Symmetrical Evolution
by Zergface
Summary: Peace was a curse, and war was a blessing. With the Console War raging in Celestia, humanity is left to evolve new methods of destruction to fight monsters- and themselves. Without faith in the CPUs, people take Gamindustri's fate into their own hands. Is this the end of the Goddesses? And what of their Candidates? ((Collab, HunterXKiller87 Lead))
1. Danger Rising Pt1

**Episode 1 - Danger Rising**

Not a sound. Those were the only instructions that Lieutenant Colonel Rogaine received before settling down in the briefing room. The hum of smooth jazz could be heard from the ceiling speakers, and it seemed out of place for the middle-aged commander.

This handful of men and women, gathered here in this very room, were the finest the Coalition had to offer. Rogaine almost felt like he was suffocating from a pressure that he didn't know existed.

The Coalition, as they called themselves, had undergone a massive effort to keep themselves hidden from common knowledge until the time was right. And now might just be that time.

Lieutenant Colonel Rogaine believed that the Coalition, an independent military organization, was a force for good. After all, their motto was _Saving_ _Gamindustri_ , something that was needed now more than ever.

With the CPUs abandoning the human world to fight one another in Celestia, things went downhill for everyone. Monster attacks, along with new, more dangerous breeds of monsters that were quickly named Abnormals, wreaked havoc on everything that humanity had worked so hard to build.

Livid stories of atrocious monster attacks spread across social media and by word of mouth like wildfire. Regenerating health and a terrifying mutilated appearance let them spread fear with ease. And what did the government do to stop these attacks?

They had the Guild. But was it enough?

Once a Guild member, Rogaine knew with firsthand experience that it wasn't enough. Killing one monster, saving one town, doing one small action wouldn't and couldn't change things as a whole. Despite the Guild's efforts, big changes had to be made to bring a lasting effect.

After discovering the Coalition by overhearing some men talk in a bar, Rogaine immediately left the Guild and joined their ranks.

And now that Rogaine was here, here to make a difference in society, he felt like he could finally get things done. Big things.

Almost a dozen other uniformed officers sat in rows, all facing the whiteboard at the end of the room. No one spoke. No one did anything but look down at their feet while alone with their thoughts.

Rogaine clasped his hands together, fingers interlocked. He had been waiting for... how long now? Half an hour? Fifteen minutes? Without a clock in the windowless bunker, time was an illusion.

Just before the silence led him to insanity, the only door into the room was pushed open, its metal body gliding across the floor as a man with a beret strode inside with the whiteboard as his destination.

Field Marshal Powell. He was a man whose limitless energy made him popular among those in High Command, a trait that would be impossible to guess when you saw his greying hair. In charge of the Lastation Division of the Coalition, the military theories and tactics he devised were leagues away from what was still practiced in Lastation's own military.

He was a genius. Someone that Lieutenant Colonel Rogaine looked up to akin to the Goddesses.

"I'll keep this brief." He swiftly addressed everyone in the room as equals, hands tucked behind his back in parade rest. Commander Rogaine pulled himself to the edge of his seat in anticipation, eyes trained on his superior with an attentive intensity.

"You've all heard those promises, promises made by those with power, day by day." Powell stood still, eyebrows furrowed. "They said that the CPUs would return. They said that the monster attacks would end. But every single day, I look outside. I look up and see nothing but a collapsing economy, inflation through the roof, jobless numbers growing and our rural lands ravaged by monsters. I look up and see the Basilicom of Planeptune. Lastation. Lowee, and Leanbox. You know what they see? They're looking down on us." He stepped to the left, exposing the board to everyone in the room.

"What do they see?" He asked the officers.

A Captain to Rogaine's left raised a fist and then stood up with his arms at parade rest. "They see what they want to see, sir." He called out confidently. "They see what the Yes Men tell them."

The Field Marshal shook his head to say no, but he was not disappointed. "Close."

The standing Captain sat back down.

Another man raised a fist, but Lieutenant Colonel Rogaine didn't recognize him. Once Powell nodded, he rose.

"They see nothing, sir."

That was the answer he wanted to hear. "Correct. They like to think that everything is perfect, that they are the good guys in this conflict. Just because in the past they served Goddesses doesn't give them the right to rule us without them. Not when the choking morass of bureaucracy gets nothing done."

The lights in the room suddenly flicked off, leaving everyone in the dark. Then the board lit up, shining a bright white light onto everyone's face.

"We fight an _easily_ justifiable cause." The Field Marshall stressed. "When the ones at the top stop serving those at the bottom, things have to change. And now that our ultimatum has been ignored, _most likely lost in a stack of papers and held calls_ ," He muttered before returning to his typical bold voice alongside a fist raised with pure determination. "We must take action. For our homes. For Gamindustri."

 _Was this it? Was this the order?_

Rogaine felt his heart pump faster and faster, his belly quivered like a running engine, and he couldn't help himself from running a hand through his short black hair.

It's been years of planning. Years of gathering numbers without revealing themselves. Years of training, years of inspiration, years of theorizing and years of suffering. Each year they waited, another village was overrun by monsters. Each year that they weren't ready was another few dozen lives lost and another branch of the Guild that was formed.

No more waiting. No more lives being lost without a purpose.

"Our ultimatum was simple." The leader proclaimed as a list of words and sentences appeared on screen, with the screen panning across each line. He pointed to the first line and continued speaking. "We wanted reform. We wanted security. We wanted to live our lives. And if we didn't get that, we would act." He cleared his throat.

"Our Lastation division has over twenty thousand men and women assembled and ready. You know this. Now they know this. And by calling us both bullshit and terrorists," He paused, looking Rogaine in the eye. "They've condemned themselves to what we have all been preparing for."

The board flicked onto a map of Northern Gamindustri. Planeptune in the west, Lastation in the East, and Lowee in the North. Leanbox was off the map, as the island continent was too far south.

"You are all to report to your company command posts and reach our preliminary objectives in accordance with Contingency Three in 48 hours." Field Marshal Powell ordered. "Do not forget what you are fighting for."

 _Contingency Three?_ Rogaine stifled a gasp as his heart sank to the bottom of his stomach like an anchor. Rogaine believed in what the Coalition stood for. He truly believed that Gamindustri needed to be saved, that things had to change without those CPUs and with the people.

Contingency plan One called for peaceful reform, or a peaceful transition of power. That was the best case scenario, one where the ultimatum had been accepted. It was the plan that he had been hoping for.

Contingency plan Two demanded that they deal a decapitating blow against Lastation's government, and then with a handful of military victories, use the situation as leverage to convince the other nations to surrender.

And there was Contingency Three.

That was the call to arms. The call for revolution, bloody and swift. By ruining one nation to its knees, they were to fight for the total capitulation of the rest of Gamindustri with its resources. They were to destroy what little was left and build upon the ashes of a world where the CPUs are assumed to never return. It required more than what they had, or would ever have.

It required sacrifice, it demanded the Coalition to fight the very people they wanted to save.

Rogaine bit his tongue to keep himself silent.

Orders were orders.

Gamindustri was going to have to change. If violence was going to be the catalyst, he might as well do it right. Limit casualties, just like he was taught. Fight right, fight smart and save as many lives as he could. He would try to win without war.

At least, that's what he hoped.

* * *

Lieutenant Colonel Rogaine stormed down the halls of the Coalition Command Bunker, briefcase in his left hand and sweat coating the balled palm of the other. He weaved through corridors, past doors and ignored people that waved to him, saying hello.

There was no time to waste. His job was the most important one of them all, and there was no time to waste. If he had two days to complete his goal, it had to get done by one.

His company was called the _Jagged Edge_ , and for good reason.

Under his command, the _Jagged Edge_ needed to deal the decisive blow that would secure this revolution. They were the one line that tread the line between the Coalition's swift victory and a long, bloody conflict.

His orders, as relayed in his preliminary plans, was to scour the border between Lastation and Lowee in a search and destroy mission. The target was the Cornucopia Military Academy. While neither its location or description was known, the CMA housed people who accepted the changing state of Gamindustri. They adapted to the advent of automatic weapons in war as opposed to the antiquated ways of close combat found effective against monsters.

While the rest of Gamindustri would be defeated quickly as their superiors refusing to accept new tactics and strategies, the CMA would certainly pose the biggest threat to their coup.

With proper access to resources and manpower, the tide of war could be evenly matched. And a slugfest was not something Gamindustri's first revolution would survive, not with monster attacks on the horizon and the CPUs, or maybe even the True Goddess, fated to arrive one day.

Lieutenant Colonel Rogaine couldn't afford to let the world turn without him.

* * *

The shrill cry of a monster reached a boy's ears as he dealt the final blow on the beast. Blood splattered across the ground as the monster crashed with an audible **THUD**. Not even a second afterwards, its body began to glow with a brilliant white light before exploding into many tiny white particles. This explosion of color was the fate of every monster, even the Abnormal ones, that fell in one way or another.

The monster's killer stood tall, staring down at where the monster had once lay. The killer then saw to turning to head out of the area he was in. The killer was a young preteen of 13 years of age. He was a lean built male of 5 foot 8, with gravity defying red hair like a certain copy ninja from a certain village, and light blue coloured eyes.

His attire was a black trench coat with a high collar with a red pulsating interior, a pair of black fingerless gloves on his hands, a grey polo shirt, a pair of grey coloured camo pants and black military boots. Strapped to his hips were a pair of black leather holsters, another one just below the back of his waist, and one last holster strapped diagonally across his back. On his forearms were a pair of grey wrist bracers, ones whose functions were potentially numerous for him.

Nico, Codename DEATHSTROKE, just finished another assignment for the Guild. It was one that involved slaying a notable monster that had been causing trouble for the local militia. It was an Abnormal, one called a 'Revenant', and it had been powerful. Powerful enough for Nico to resort to using THAT side of him, which shall not be named due to Nico having the power of fourth wall breaking and will likely spear the author and readers with his Plasma Claws to keep them quiet.

The problem with this assignment was that they didn't cover the specifics of the Revenant's abilities, this creature being a recently discovered Abnormal. Thus, Nico had gone into this mission by himself with practically no information about its abilities and behavioral patterns.

Fortunately, Nico was professional, and managed to study it while it feasted on the remains of another monster. This resulted in learning a little about it before laying traps to weaken it further. Finally, he had engaged it in direct combat, destroying it swiftly in thanks to his prior preparation weakening it.

All in a day's work for this Spec Ops Agent.

Now, he was returning to the town that had submitted the Quest, which was a small farming village located on the borders between Planeptune and Lastation. It was a fairly poor village, yet it had managed to set the necessary credits aside for the Quests.

Their dedication to having someone take care of the problem inspired the male when he had heard the story, which helped in his decision to take the job himself. Though, he did ask the client to not let word of his deed get out of the village.

Nico wanted to remain the lesser-known Spec Ops Agent that he was.

* * *

Nico returned to the village of Wanderer's Creek. It was a small town located next to a great river, one that ran alongside the town, connecting to a lake deep within the southern lands in Planeptune. Here he would turn his Quest in, then head back to the capital for some rest, probably to go to a hotel and stay the night. He had enough credits, enough for that as well as a restock of his supplies.

This made the 20th quest this week. He had been completing assignments nonstop and it was starting to wear him down. He hoped that by a few years time, he'd have trained his body to operate even after 50 Quests.

Nico never did say he was tardy or lazy, and in fact, that was far from the case. Records show that his work rate was 40% higher than any other agent. Well, any other Guild agent, though, there were various Spec Ops Agents he could name that had higher track records.

FLASH, QUICKSILVER, and several others.

Walking through the town, Nico's ears listened to the chatter that was coming from the local populace. It was in the middle of the afternoon, so people were abuzz on the streets, chatting away about what was going on in the world. So far, little seemed to have changed. Monsters still seem to be getting footholds everywhere, defences were falling and/or under siege by Abnormals, the works.

Sometimes, he has to wonder: is the Basilicom really doing what they can? Even with so many agents working their asses off and still they hadn't made much of an impact. Monsters were still getting stronger by the day, and more of humanity was being put at risk, even killed in brutal, grizzly manners.

Then there were the CPUs which were battling it out in Celestia right now for their precious Console War. Nico mentally scowled, keeping himself neutral as he trudged along the paths towards the mansion that the village chief resided in.

Those CPUs, why do they not see what they are doing is pathetically stupid? They were supposed to be the leaders of nations, not squabbling about like children in another plane of existence. Beings like them were not beings he could believe in, no, no sir. He didn't fight for the CPUs nor hope that they would return from their little spat in heaven. He fought for his own beliefs, his own ideals.

Every Spec Ops was similar in that regard, with few exceptions. They each fought for their own ideals; to protect or to destroy. Some fought for vengeance, some fought to satisfy their bloodlust, and some even fought just for the sake of fighting as it was all that they knew.

In his case, Nico felt that he fell into two categories: to protect someone important to him in the capital, and the last reason. For while protecting that person was important, he had long since realised that his calling was here, on the battlefield.

He fought because it was his nature. It was all he knew and it was how he thrived.

* * *

The chief's mansion didn't look like those posh, high-cost places that you would see in places like Lastation or Lowee. Hell, even Leanbox would have better architecture than this.

The mansion of the village chief was made of marble and wood, painted in the colours that reflected faith towards Lady Purple Heart. It looked to be well looked after, which should be expected given who lived here.

With a sigh, Nico walked to the door and pushed it open, swiftly making his way through the corridors and stairs till he had reached the chief's office. Before he could raise his hand and knock on the door, Nico heard sounds of voices inside, intense voices which indicated an argument had broken out.

Nico's eyes narrowed at this as he listened. The argument sounded heated, and no solid information was properly given.

Using his intuition, Nico managed to figure something out. Apparently, some new group was appearing and causing trouble along Lastation and Lowee's borders. It seemed that the chief wasn't worried since those borders weren't close to his village, but the other person seemed to disagree.

' _Great, more political bullshit…_ '

The young Spec Ops Agent never liked politicians. They spend so long just blabbering on and never got anything done. He had heard there were some botched elections a couple years back, between two politicians vying to be promoted to Prime Minister, which was a role that was just below that of the Oracle.

Unfortunately, Planeptune's Oracle has been missing for some time. Centuries even, but it would be nearly impossible to select a new Oracle. The conditions that the previous Oracle stated for her successor to fulfil made it nearly impossible for a new Oracle to be chosen.

Thus, they needed a prime minister.

He couldn't remember their names, and Nico didn't bother trying to remember. To him, politicians weren't all that useful unless they were actually competent and got things done. Though, politicians like that were rare these days, most of them being stubborn old geezers who spent their time preaching about their freaking CPUs and how they would soon return, using bullshit excuses that citizens clung to like horny dogs.

These thoughts normally wouldn't be for a 13 year old kid, but as a Spec Ops Agent, seeing the things that those agents did and doing them himself forced the boy to grow up fast. He had seen much in his time as an agent, most of it things that he had wished he hadn't so he could have been innocently blissful for at least a while longer.

But he did what he did, and saw what he saw. He'd seen the darkness, and now it stared back at him throughout every second he spent in the living world, every step he took, every breath he made.

What was the old saying? ' _He who endeavours to fight monsters should make sure to not become one, for if you stare too long into the abyss, it will stare back at you?_ '

Well, Nico did just that, and now he was a monster, a monster that ate away at other monsters.

His thoughts were disrupted when he heard footsteps nearing the doors. When he did, the preteen quickly sidestepped to avoid the door as it swung open, and one pudgy looking man with a bald head, a moustache, grey eyes and a formal suit, stepped out angrily.

He didn't notice Nico at all, which was something the boy was grateful for, as he stormed off to who knows where.

' _Wait, I think I recognise that man… isn't he one of the councilmen for Planeptune's Government? Well, I'll be damned… Why the hell would one of them come to this backwater village? No matter, it is none of my business to pry._ ' Nico thought, shaking his head before deciding to finish it off for the day.

He then walked inside, the councilmen having left the door open to the Chief's office. The Office had detailed decorations with purple carpets, walls, ceilings and leather furniture. The chief, an elderly man with a long beard, sat behind his Desk with various pieces of paperwork to look over. He had his head balanced on one hand as he twirled his pen in the other, a troubled look on his face.

Hearing the sounds of footsteps, the man's irritation grew as he looked up with a scowl on his face. "I've just had about enough of your… oh, it's you." He began to shout in anger, only to realize that it wasn't the councilmen from before but Nico instead. A calmed, relieved sigh escaped his lips as he sat back down on his seat. "How did the mission go? Is the beast dead?"

"The beast will trouble you no more. It has been slain. Here is proof."

Nico raised his right arm and brought up the Quest Details on his Bracer. It activated a Holoscreen, which floated above the Bracer and held the Quest Details inside, where the Chief saw what looked like a green tick mark beside the Quest. That meant that the Revenant had truly been slain. Quests that have been completed have tick marks beside them, which meant they were ready to be turned in.

Seeing that the Quest was completed, the man gave another relieved sigh, this one much heavier than the last. "Oh, thank Lady Purple Heart." The Chief gushed, quickly making several hand motions. Nico looked as the Holoscreen changed to a horizontal one, with the words 'QUEST COMPLETE!' in the centre. Below were a list of rewards for his services, and after he checked them over, Nico saw that everything was settled.

"I was hoping for some good news at least by the end of the day, and you got things done much faster than I gave you credit for." The man mused, stroking his beard with his right hand as he gave him a nostalgic look. "I wish I had 10 more like you."

"Glad to be of service, sir." Nico responded promptly, his eyes blank, his gaze even. His hands were at his sides as he regarded the man. "If there is nothing else, I will be leaving now." he stated, to which he began to turn for the door once again. The Capital was waiting for him… as well as THAT person.

Nico mentally shuddered at the thought of what humiliation SHE might put him through next. He hadn't called HER for over a month, and whenever he didn't talk to HER for a long time SHE would always find some way to embarrass him.

There was only one other person who made visiting the Capital bearable, but he only communicated with her through phone calls or texts. Maybe he could see her one day in person, yeah, that would be nice. But for the time being, he had lots of work to do.

"Please wait! There's something I have to ask you!"

The sudden, desperate cry from the Chief made Nico stop walking mid-stride. He turned his head to face the man, who had stood up and was reaching out for him. "What is it you need?" Spec Ops Agents were required to show professionalism with their clients, and that was not going to change here.

"Um, I was wondering if you've heard the news, about what is happening at the borders between Lowee and Lastation." The Chief questioned him, making Nico raise a brow. Where was this man going with this?

While this was the first time he had heard of this, Nico thought that the man was so dismissive about the whole ordeal. Was he trying to hide something from the other Councilmen? If so, why?

So, when he shook his head to say he didn't know, the Chief calmed his breathing and sat down on his chair, letting his troubled expression reform on his face. "Well, I don't blame you, kid. We've requested your services multiple times, and thus you are very well-received by our people."

The man then paused, a heavy sigh of fatigue escaping his lips as he paused his activities. "We owe you a debt we may never repay, but to start, I should probably tell you about what's going on. I don't trust the Planeptune Government to do anything here."

"You see, there's rumours that this new Military organisation, calling themselves ' _The Coalition_ ' have finally started to become more active in their activities. The government will tell you that the chaos on the Lowee and Lastation border is just another monster attack. But I'm almost certain that it's them. In time, I have no doubt that all of Gamindustri will be under threat from this terrible group." He explained, his arms moving automatically to sort the documents on his desk.

… The Coalition, huh?

Well, Nico wouldn't lie and say he didn't see this coming. With the way the Basilicom and the Government were doing things, it was more strange that groups like them haven't risen earlier. Sooner or later, people were bound to get restless, hell people did get sick and tired of waiting on the CPUs all those years ago and thus, formed the Spec Ops Programme to help them fight the Abnormal monsters.

Still though, this did present a major concern for the public's safety. Innocent lives shouldn't be put at risk just because of a select few tardy individuals. If the borders between nations fell, it would create a chaotic atmosphere in both nations, which would incite monsters to push deeper into their territory. It would make their jobs as Spec Ops Agents a whole lot harder.

"I must admit, while I do worry for my people, I hope that things get better soon. We all need to be united so that our Lady doesn't have to worry about us." The Chief remarked, making Nico suppress the urge to frown at his near-blind devotion to the CPU Purple Heart.

Nico knew that the majority of people believed in the CPUs, as it was embedded into society to do so, but it still pissed him off to see people not take initiative of their own lives to be independent and worthwhile as human beings.

It was people like the Chief that made people form groups like the Coalition.

* * *

"Hooohh? Looks like things are getting interesting…"

A woman kneeled on top of a mountain, watching silently as patrol of Coalition soldiers make their way through the mountains, searching for something. Their search proved fruitless so far, but that mattered little to the one analyzing them.

The observer smirked, the thin sunlight above angled just enough to show dark, ominous lipstick smeared on her lips. Her hands, most notable for their odd purple hue, were also visible, gripping the ground below while she kneeled on one leg. She hadn't expected any sort of violence to happen between humans, not while her plans were incomplete.

She didn't expect humans to try thinking with their brains for once and take their fates into their own hands. That didn't mean she was displeased by it. On the contrary, the smirk on the womanly figure's face reflected just how excited she truly was about this.

"I didn't expect this, but this doesn't matter. I can still use this to my advantage."

* * *

"Gainsboro 1-1, this is Nickel, radio check, over."

Lieutenant Colonel Rogaine held up a handheld radio to his mouth. The interior of his Infantry Mobility Vehicle felt cramped to the man. Sitting in the shotgun seat with a tablet resting atop his knees, Rogaine was getting worried.

Over three hours have passed since the search order was given, and yet there was no trace of any academy anywhere. Did they pass it? Was it underground? Their information could be off.

But that wasn't the worst thing that could happen. The feeling that the facility might not even be here plagued him incandescently.

With no end to the endless plains of snow in sight, the element of surprise was slipping fast. Armored vehicles plowed through the hills, on and off roads, through or around trees, desperately searching for the slightest sign of a facility capable of training their enemy.

The Lieutenant Colonel gazed through the vehicle's reinforced windshield. Snowbank after snowbank breezed past the vehicle as the driver steadily held down on the gas. In the distance, the tall mountains of western Lastation glimmered in the cloud-filtered sunlight like towering titans.

The densely populated town of Clearton Point would be approaching on their right, but not for some time. But that wasn't the biggest thing that the _Jagged Edge's_ leader had to watch out for. Since they were treading an international border, a military checkpoint wouldn't be out of place at a town like that.

They'd have to get through it in order to keep searching.

But what was worse was the lack of intelligence shrouding the entire Coalition offensive. Enemy troop numbers and their locations were spotty at best, and there was almost no information on which Lastation commanders led which combat groups, something that the Coalition's strategy was based on.

Luckily for Rogaine, this outpost was an exception to that rule.

Briefly reading off the Coalition database on his tablet, he noted several key facts.

This outpost's garrison was a company-sized combat group of around a hundred soldiers. They were well equipped and disciplined, but one of their most glaring weak points was their lack of experience. Not one battle or training exercise was boasted under their belt. _That would prove to be their downfall_ , Rogaine thought.

But as he kept scrolling, he soon realized that this fight might be more of a challenge than he had originally thought. The commander of these soldiers might be more skilled than he imagined.

This garrison was Lid's personal guard.

Lid, a high ranking general within Lastation's armed forces, had a reputation for being organized and on alert. With a focus on defense and subterfuge, there was a possibility that she may already be prepared for an occasion like this. Traps surrounding the perimeter were almost a certainty.

Not only that, but her usage of a cardboard box to evade meetings led to her ascent in popularity, among other things that people admired. Something that would bolster her personal resilience would be her will to impress her following and not let them down.

 _Well,_ He thought to himself as he flicked off his tablet. _We should be ready for anything._

Their ETA was fifteen minutes if Rogaine's math was right. GPS devices planted on each of the vehicles were experiencing technical issues at the moment, and because of that, navigation had to be done manually.

" _Nickel,_ " The handheld radio in Rogaine's hand crackled to life, the response coming clear. " _This is Gainsboro 1-1, we read you five by five, over."_

"Gainsboro 1-1, this is Nickel, roger, out."

Rogaine sighed, letting the device slide from his fingers and onto his lap. At least comms were good. The sky was deathly cloudy, and the threat of heavy snowfall was constantly at the back of the commander's mind. The forecast said nothing about snow, but the possibility was always there.

Inclement weather would instantly mean that this mission was a bust. Without the visibility needed to search, things would only go downhill.

" _Nickel, this is Gainsboro 1-2, we have a visual on flashing lights coming from a raised structure at our bearing 060. Looks like a tower, over."_

"Gainsboro 1-2, report your position to me."

Rogaine turned his attention to his tablet once more, this time flipping to a map of the surrounding area.

" _Uhh…_ _we're at grid 081921, parked beside a road. Gainsboro 1-1 and 1-3 are parked due north as well, over._ "

After searching for the coordinates and doing the math, Rogaine located both their position and the enemy facility. They must have arrived at the checkpoint before the rest of the combat group.

"Gainsboro, sit tight. Teams _Silver_ and _Cinderous_ should be to your direct south, right along the road as well. I'm sending orders to everyone's pads, brief yourself there. Get set to engage, and stick to my orders."

" _Copy that. We'll be ready for anything. Out_."

Rogaine placed down his radio. With a newfound determination, he hoisted his tablet onto the glove compartment of the car. The tactical map was displayed in front of him, awaiting his orders.

As he zoomed the map out further, exposing more of the terrain, the Coalition Commander's mind was abuzz with maneuvers, counters to counters, and much, much more. There was no such thing as too much preparation, not when so much was at stake.

* * *

 _ **H:**_

 **Hey guys. HunterXKiller87 here,**

 **This is the second attempt at a collab between me and Zergface, since our first one… didn't really meet our standards. Hope you like, and look forward to when we upload again.**

 **Me and Z here worked hard on this, a combination of his realistic style and my action! You could say, it's the best of both worlds. Hope it's good enough for you all.**

 _ **Z:**_

 **With our different writing styles, I'm hoping that this can be an interesting experience for everyone. I'm hoping that we can teach you a bit about modern warfare and its implications, along with some of Hunter's action-stuff.**

 **But! It could be an even better experience if you enter your OC into the story. We have lots of slots open, and although we have some guidelines and the like, it would be awesome for other people to join in on the writing process. You can write your own lines and more, as we're hoping to make this somewhat of a game for the people involved.**

 **If you're interesting in writing in your OC and maybe even more, there's a few things to consider, like their name, traits, characteristics, role and more. You can find those things and more on the discord, with the code here:**

 **YxCu9q**

 **Thank you for considering, and most importantly, thank you for reading!**


	2. Danger Rising Pt2

"Hmmmm… It looks like they have started."

The same woman from before was now trailing after the Coalition members as she watched the foot soldiers disembark from their transport. Somehow, none of them were able to see her, it was like she was invisible to every detection device known to man. For each passing minute she watched, her interest in this group increased. Little by little, the woman found herself contemplating to herself.

"How should I make them a part of my plans? Perhaps I should find out who their leader is, then I may speak with them personally..."

Thoughts and plans circulated through her mind as she observed the Coalition members sift through the snow.

* * *

Commander Rogaine stood tall in the spacious second compartment of his vehicle, hands behind his back as a bright blue holographic map flickered in the vehicle's center.

With his IMV parked a safe distance away, the Lieutenant Colonel was free to move about the rear and concentrate his entire mind to the rapidly approaching fight. A hazy blue light was draped across both Rogaine's uniform and his face, his entire being consumed by what was about to go down.

Within the hologram, the hilly terrain surrounding the nearby town of Clearton Point was projected as the extent of it's zoom. Finer details, such as houses and structures, would appear once he decided to train his viewpoint onto a specific area.

From this point of view, Rogaine saw blue dots where a squad leader was positioned. Each of these squads were specialized in a certain area of combat.

Ranged Infantry excelled with guns, and each infantryman was delegated their own special role within their squad. In the Coalition, some were grenadiers, some were autoriflemen and others wielded launcher weapons. These diverse teams made up the backbone of Coalition combat groups.

This type of infantry was something that existed within each nation's armed force, but due to the lack of both experience and foresight, were not nearly as able to adapt to different threats. Called riflemen by the ruling powers, these soldiers of Gamindustri lacked the special roles and weapons that Coalition troops had.

Melee Infantry were relics of the past, and their uses in the Coalition were limited to close combat. Melee Infantry made up most of Gamindustri's forces, as their leaders refused to see a use for ranged infantry.

Then there were teams of soldiers who were trained special abilities, called Skilled Infantry. Adept at special moves with both melee and ranged weapons, these units were valuable fighters. The only equivalent that the rest of Gamindustri could show for themselves would be Guild Agents.

The _Jagged Edge_ was a modern combination of all three types of infantry. Alongside armored vehicles and dedicated support weapon teams, the _Jagged Edge_ was a fighting force unlike any in Gamindustri at this time.

Blue dots representing Skilled units were hiding behind the crest of the hills in reserve, while their Ranged companions were at the ready atop their peaks.

With their bodies dug into the snow and weapons trained on the roadside Lastation base, each man and woman's eager trigger finger was restrained by the word of their superior.

"Marengo, Puce, Cinderous, what's your status?" Rogaine spoke out loud, his voice transmitted to his Ranged infantry Platoons through the vehicle's microphone-embedded hull.

A chorus of positive replies were returned to the commander, who exhaled deeply in response.

"Alright." Rogaine shivered with anticipation, rubbing his hands together to keep warm. "Puce platoon, lay down cover fire as Cinderous bounds up. Marengo, you need to cross the road so we can get two different angles on that facility. I want everyone coming home tonight, you hear?"

Rogaine let his words be absorbed by his men. Although he organized the bigger picture as a command element, he left the specific details of combat up to his subordinates as they knew the situation on the ground better than he did. Unless something happened to change the state of the battle, such as Lowee intervening, things would be alright.

In order to be prepared for an eventuality concerning reinforcements, he would have his single melee group hold their position along the road that led to Lowee. On the Lastation side, he would move his second Skilled group into Clearton Point, just to make sure no enemy units made their way through the town.

"Start off strong, guys." He advised, staring deep into the hologram. In the midst of his eyes reflected an intensity he reserved for only the most serious of moments. This was it. The beginning of the revolution.

"You're clear to engage."

* * *

Jason Eves, an eighteen year old college student from Lowee, sat himself down on the edge of the hill. His bright white uniform camouflaged scarily well with the snow, while his black weapon stood out in the terrain like a sore thumb.

His chest felt like bursting from the pressure. Things didn't feel real. He's done the simulations, he's done the drills. But this feels too calm. This moment, just seconds after the order was given, didn't match his expectations of war at all.

His nose was numb from cold, and the exposed skin around his goggles tingled with a freezing sensation. His balaklava did little to protect him from the cold, although the blisteringly sharp wind's deadly chill was cut down to a fraction of what it could be.

More worried about the cold than he was about catching a bullet, Jason hoisted his heavy metal gun to his shoulder, lining up the iron sights to the first uniformed Lastation soldier he saw. The ridged grip of his underbarrel grenade launcher felt good between his fingers.

He blinked, his eyelids stinging from the cold.

They… they were so far away.

It was as if Jason wasn't there at all. Enemy guards were mingling with each other, and some of them were unarmed. A truck pulled up at the checkpoint before the first guard at the gate waved, letting the truck pass through.

The facility was rather small. Completely encircled by a thin fence, there was a decently large command bunker planted beside the road. That must be where the enemy headquarters was. Through one of the windows of the bunker some men said that there was a fixed gun emplacement, which would poise a significant threat. Even further behind the bunker was a metal tower.

A machine gunner was posted in that tower, but luckily for Jason, couldn't see him or his comrades against the snow.

As that guard lowered his arm, turning back to his friends, Jason's heart sank.

"Weapons hot!"

A man off to Jason's right called at the top of his lungs.

"Clear backblast!" Another man shouted.

A wisp of air was sucked out of the boy's lungs as a massive thump was heard. Snapping his neck to his right, the smoke trail of a rocket smashed violently into the tower, bringing the entire thing to creak, twist and eventually bend.

Smoke and disturbed snow shrouded the entire base, making it hard to discern details about the situation.

The tower, now split into two parts, bent with a terrible groan at its center. As the spire tilted almost instantly to the ground, the machine gunner screamed, body launched into the snow like a rock from a catapult.

Metal girders and debris landed into the snow, knocking over a huge chunk of the fence. That was going to be their entry point.

Then, just before the dust could settle, quick blisters of fire blasted from each rifle's muzzle, save Jason's own, as the staccato pinpricks of expended ammunition whistled through the air until they impacted their targets. Whether that be a plume of snow tossed in the air or the flesh of a human being, the shooters did not care.

"Suppressive fire!" Another man, the leader of Puce platoon's Alpha squad, screamed his order.

As Jason Eves tried hoisting his body into the sky, a single shot landed close to his right, throwing him off balance. The returning gunfire was cut short by Puce platoon's marksmen, who shot the Lastation gunman with ease.

" _Alright Cinderous,_ " The soldier heard his radio crinkle with static. The leader of his platoon called out to everyone in the unit through electronic means as the world around him was engulfed in gunfire. " _Start pushing towards the base. Puce is going to be covering us, don't worry about returning fire. Just focus on getting there, alright? I know it's going to be rough, just think of what we're here for, j-just move!"_

Inspired by their leader's words, soldiers in white were roused to their feet. With weapons dangling lazily in human arms, the men of Cinderous Platoon ran through the ankle-deep snow. Some men tripped in sudden collections of deep snow while some panicked as returning fire intensified.

"I see one- he's- he's behind the leftmost part of the fence!" A soldier to Jason's right shouted, slowing to a halt. As Jason slogged past him, the man raised his weapon to his shoulder and fired.

Shell casings flung into the air as enemy tracer rounds impacted the snow around the soldier. Unfazed, or maybe just ignorant of the heavy volume of fire being directed at him, the soldier kept shooting, the kick of his weapon hammering his shoulder until, in the distance, another person stumbled and fell face-first into the reddening snow.

"He's do-"

Before he could get back to running, a bullet slammed into his neck. Dropping his weapon, the man let out a horrendous gurgle as he clutched his fatal wound. Once he had fallen to his knees, Jason was long gone.

" _Cinderous, rally at the fenceline!_ " The platoon leader ordered once more.

As Jason huffed and puffed through the snow, not stopping to look back, not stopping to look up and see the eyes of his enemy, he saw the first bit of the fenceline enter the edges of his vision. Once he saw the outlines of some of his comrades at the barrier. Justin fell to the snow and pushed his cloudy goggles into the stuff, letting his whole body be thrust into its wide, unforgiving expanse.

He wasn't cold anymore, but instead felt his chest grow hot and sticky from sweat. The adrenaline from his sprint kept himself from pulling off a top layer, and he instead took the next few moments to catch his breath.

Another person dove down to Jason's left, mimicking him in his flat position.

"Who's here!" The platoon leader, lifting his head up despite the shots coming his way, called over the sound of cracking air and the sick smell of gunpowder.

A dozen men, all hiding behind the fence, raised a fist.

"Alright," He muttered before pushing his head back into the snow. After a moment of radio chatter with Nickel, our Company commander, he thrust his attention back on the men.

"You! You with the grenade launcher!" He waved at Jason as a chunk of the fence was blown off by a grenade, far to their right. While his ears and head stung from the blast, Jason struggled to listen as best he could.

 _Me?_

"Kid! I need white smoke between us and that bunker. Do it now!"

With the sanctity of the mission in his hands, Jason raised his rifle and wedged it through the broken chain links of the fence. Then he pushed out on his barrel, allowing the high-explosive round he initially loaded to be revealed.

After wiggling it out with the tips of his fingers, he swapped it out for a smoke grenade from his vest. After closing the launcher to its original state with a satisfying click, he flipped up the launcher's sight.

Jason used his right hand to adjust his sights for 50 meters, then placed both hands on the gun. With one eye closed shut and gunshots landing in the snow around him, he fired.

 **THUMP!**

The grenade flew through the air before bouncing off the bunker with a heavy clack, landing a few feet in front of it.

Jason Eves pulled himself back to a crawl, fidgeting with the launcher in an desperate effort to reload it.

Seconds passed, and his chest was pumping faster and faster. Violent beats of his chest could be heard in his ears, right up until the grenade detonated in a massive cloud of smoke.

With the bunker's window masked with white, half a dozen men of Cinderous platoon cheered.

"Alright! Move it, let's go!"

The platoon leader's call was heard by everyone behind the fence, and with cries of anger, shouts of fear and whimpers of tiredness, men clambered to their feet and charged.

At the bunker, men lined up beside a locked door, all primed and ready to breach. The platoon leader shouted orders as he waved a free hand.

That was the first time that Jason Eves got a good look at the leader. He was a tall man with an average build. Equipped with the standard platoon leader kit, he pointed at Jason with a fire in his eyes.

"Private Eves!" He shouted, waving him over. Jason scurried to the Lieutenant's side, then knelt to a crouch. "You're going to take point, you and a team are going to clear this bunker. You good?"

"Yeah…" Jason muttered without confidence, only to be pat on the back.

"Good! Now let's get a move on!" The leader addressed the rest of the group. "Kill some bitches!"

Jason raised his weapon, stepping back over to the doorframe of the bunker.

The man behind him pat his back, snapping Jason out of whatever fear-induced trance he was slipping into. "You got his. We got this." He said.

Those words reassured him more than anything else in the whole world, and with a deep breath, Jason nodded to the soldier across from the door.

That wordless order was all that was needed as that soldier stepped in front of the door.

After a brief moment of hesitation, and a second of readying his leg, the man kicked hard and the door came clattering down. He lept back to his side of the door, waiting for Jason to take the lead.

The private let out a deep breath, then turned the corner.

* * *

Empty.

The first room was dark but empty. No shots. No noises aside from four pairs of friendly footsteps.

"Guys," The platoon leader called into the bunker, leaning around the doorframe. "You five need to clear this facility and fast. We don't know what Lid is up to. Rogaine wants her captured if possible, but we all know things can get tight in there."

He looked back into the light, then back into the dark void of the bunker.

"We'll be clearing the perimeter with Marengo team." He paused, unsure of what would be reassuring for them. "You.. any of you need flashlights?

No response. Just shivering.

"Alright. Good luck, radio us if you need backup." And with that final word, the door closed behind them.

Darkness. The last beams of light filtered through cracks in the walls, exposing floating dust and shards of glass that broke to the floor during the attack.

Jason, along with the other four soldiers, clicked on their weapon-mounted flashlights. The sound reverberated through the seemingly abandoned halls, the only other sound being the terrific clash of armies outside.

"How we all doing?" Jason shivered, pointing his bulky weapon at one of the two doors that led out of the room.

"Not good." One man said, his flashlight and weapon trained at the other door. "You're Jason, right? I'm Luke. You _do_ know who Lid is, right?"

"Fuck if I know." He replied softly, mist puffing out of his mouth.

"She's some secret agent bitch. Loves IEDs, traps, all that sneaky shit. I bet this whole facility is booby-trapped to hell, just for us."

"Don't be such a downer." Another man said, stepping forwards the leftmost door. "I bet they left here already. You saw those guys scrambling out the door, right? Looked like the whole Goddess-damned garrison. We'll be fine." He placed a hand on the door's handlebar, about to pull.

"We going this way?" Jason asked, unsure.

"Why not." The guy said, then pulled.

Almost instantly, a barrage of heavy machine gun fire tore through the door, shredding both the door and the unnamed man. He didn't even get a chance to shout as the bullets tore him apart, his body collapsing onto the ground.

"Holy fuck!" Luke stammered, stepping back. "Oh man… we'd be so much better off if we just level the damn place…"

Almost immediately after he said this, four soldiers, each wearing Lastation coloured tactical gear stormed into the room with their weapons being longswords. Jason, Luke and the two other soldiers all gasped as they were beset by the enemy, too slow to raise their guns in time as the men all shoulder tackled them, knocking them to the ground. Their guns clattered beside them, forcefully dropped by their wielders.

The men raised their swords, aiming to stab them through their jugulars. Luke managed to get out of his situation alive, by quickly reaching for his knife and parrying the blow. He then stabbed it into the soldier's knee, getting a curse from his enemy as he raised his right leg and kicked him off, knocking him to the ground.

Jason achieved a similar result, as when the Lastation Soldier tried to end him once and for all, instead of using his knife, the boy picked up his gun and, with the weapon's bulky frame, whacked him upside the head with it and knocked him down in a daze.

After engaging in a brief struggle of power with the two other men, the other soldiers of Lastation won and stabbed their longswords into their brains, killing them instantly. Getting to their feet, the Lastation soldiers saw their comrades having been knocked down with the enemy looming over them.

Thinking that they were in danger, they each gave a mighty battle cry while charging towards them, longswords poised for a slash. Jason was the first target, but Luke suddenly stepped in their path, his weapon help up sideways as he pushed off their blows with it.

"Luke!" Jason yelled, starting to pick up his bulky weapon to help his comrade when he noticed that the two soldiers they had knocked down were back up, the one with the knife in his leg having pulled it out and drunk a Healing Potion to stem the bleeding. The Knife was tossed haphazardly onto the ground.

While in his struggle with the other men, Luke shouted back to his surviving comrade. "You take those guys! I'll keep ugly here distracted!"

He then delivered a swift kick to the man's abdomen, making him stumble back while the other was swiftly elbowed to the face, making him grit his teeth in pain while holding his face with one hand.

The first gave a mighty war cry a second later though, swiftly bouncing back with a slash to his head. "For Lady Lid! For Lady Black Heart!"

' _Th-These guys…! How dedicated even are they?_ '

Jason would have watched more, but he had two soldiers to worry about. That machine gun fire must have been from their comrades, judging by their weaponry. It made sense, to fire a barrage like that to confuse them, then send in the CQC troops to finish them off while their figurative pants were down.

The first soldier gave a similar war cry to the one fighting Luke, rushing from the front while his partner charged from Jason's right flank. Lifting his bulky weapon, Jason tried to slow them down, but only succeeded in buying a few extra seconds to draw his own knife.

The familiar weapon felt good in his hands. Close combat training was a necessity for Coalition soldiers, especially when forced into a close combat situation.

The one from the right came first, raising his sword for a slash to his head. Jason raised his right knife and blocked it, swiftly slamming his foot into the man's exposed abdomen to make him bend over. When he did, Jason brought an elbow down onto his head, knocking him to the ground and out of the fight.

As for the second one, he almost got a cut into Jason's uniform, but the boy barely managed to dodge by pivoting at the skin of his teeth. He spun into a reverse kick, but the Lastation Soldier dodged it like he did his own blow earlier.

With the exposed opening, the Soldier rushed Jason, shoulder tackling him. Unlike before though, he didn't fall to the ground and managed to maintain his balance. When his enemy rushed him again, Jason blocked with his knife, his eyes becoming intense with determination.

With a loud roar, Jason pushed his foe back, stepping forwards while swinging his knife with a reverse grip. The man barely blocked the attack, but Jason pressed onwards, slashing with his left one in the opposite grip. This attack managed to nick the man's shoulder, making him gasp and bite his lips to stop a scream from coming out.

Not finished yet, Jason got in close, slashing in several arcs to force his enemy towards the wall. The man released a string of curses from parrying his assault, stepping back and losing ground every occasion. He couldn't find an opening to strike back, not while bleeding from so many wounds.

While Jason didn't find guns to be much of his forte, he was at least decent in their use and understood their benefits. But, there was just something about close combat that got his blood going. Was this what every Guild Agent felt like whenever they fought hard monsters?

Shaking those thoughts aside for now, Jason opted to finish his opponent off. With one horizontal slash, his enemy was left wide open, one swift strike to his neck would kill him.

Instead though, Jason slammed into him with a powerful kick, slamming into his opponent in the shin.

This resulted in the man losing his balance, and he had no choice but to fall to the ground hard enough to lose his consciousness, with his longsword clattering onto the hard bunker's floor.

The sound echoed into the darkness of the room, before becoming silent.

There, it was over… for the time being.

Jason panted heavily, the rush of adrenaline finally leaving him now that the threat to his life was no more. While Jason was a soldier, he felt his hands shake from the weight of combat. He had almost killed someone with these hands.

A shiver ran down his spine, not from the cold, but from the burden of the moment.

He joined the change the world. For the better, not worse. Violence wasn't anywhere near to what he wanted.

Turning to his comrade, Jason saw that he too had incapacitated his enemy who lay face down, bleeding from several wounds. Luke held his fist like it was aching, muttering curses occasionally as he shook his hand vigorously. " _Tch_... shit, that guy has a tough skull…" He muttered, then started rolling his shoulder around.

"You alright, Luke?"

Turning to his leader, Luke broke a faint smile, noticing that Jason was fine as he walked up to him, weapon now in hand.

"Yeah, I'm good. No major injuries on my end, and he's down for the count." He reported, glancing back at the man that tried to kill him. It made Jason smile slightly in relief, right until he looked around the room.

"Looks like we're the only ones left." Luke let his arms droop, rubbing his throbbing arm. "Everyone else in our group's been... wiped..."

Jason said nothing, letting the aches and pains from his first fight settle in his body.

The facility was quiet.

* * *

" _Puce 1-1 to Nickel, we've secured the compound. No one's moving here, sir._ "

Rogaine dragged the holographic map, letting the 3D terrain shift up and down as the world shifted like water.

"Did you find Lid? Any trace of the CMA?"

" _Negative, but I'm almost certain that the locals might be able to tell us something about the CMA. Glaucous has been messing around when you assigned them to the town, I hope nothing bad has gone down. Eh, anyways, they're certain the locals know something, over._ "

"Understood." The Coalition commander sighed, rubbing his chin with a hand. The attack was a success, but there was still a lot to be done. With no sign of the CMD, the chance of his mission's failure was still at large.

At this moment, communications must be firing up between Lastation and Lowee, thinking that they may have fired on one another. As soon as that is cleared up, things would take a turn for the worse. Rogaine hoped this would be done, and fast.

Lest the CPUs come down with a vengeance.

"Keep me posted. Out."

* * *

Nico's trip back to the capital was exhausting.

It was a grand total of 4 days walking. The first day he spent walking to another town about 300 miles north of Wanderer's Creek. It may be a bit extreme, but Nico had camping gear in his Void Storage, so he had plenty of rest along the way. Just set up camp, take a short nap to get his strength back, then move on.

The second to third days were spent in the town, searching for answers about this 'Coalition' business. Nico had to admit that this organisation had piqued his attention, but not in a good way. People similar to them, even with the bad things about Gamindustri, usually do more harm than good.

In essence, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Unfortunately for Nico, these people were clever. Either that, or they were pros, because he couldn't find much information about them. They must have been hiding from the public eye, which was more than just a little suspicious. Nico didn't like the thought of this organisation doing what they pleased, but didn't act right away.

It wasn't the right time yet. He needed more information, and the best way to obtain that information was through the Capital.

At the end of the third day, Nico had begun his trek to the Capital. This would be a 4 day long journey under normal circumstances, but luckily for him his 'condition' helped in preserving his stamina. In addition, he didn't need to eat as much thanks to it, so food wasn't an issue. He had plenty of water and other supplies, so it wasn't necessary for him to worry about those.

There were times when Monsters tried to ambush him, but Nico managed to set up camp at strategic locations with this in mind, laying traps beforehand. They worked, and easily dispatched the foolish monsters who thought him an easy meal.

In essence, a 4 day trip for normal people took 1 day for him.

Finally, the male arrived at the Capital, hands in his pockets with his Trench Coat fluttering in the afternoon Breeze. Like previously stated, it was about… 5PM in the afternoon, according to the clock on his right Bracer. But Nico had little time for rest, he had to do some intense research on this Coalition.

If the Public weren't aware of them, then there had to be someone else who was. The Guild or Basilicom, maybe. They did deal with these kinds of people, and Nico himself was fairly experienced in handling criminals, so it only made sense they have SOMETHING on them.

While he walked through the streets, Nico kept his ears open, listening to the citizens chatter. Most of them were women in their packs, talking about things like shopping, clothes, and relationship matters, something that Nico pushed aside. That information was useless, but it was better than walking along blindly.

Just as he was about to make a turn onto a different street, he heard a strange beeping sound. Nico's eyes widened in realisation, he knew that sound, it was the sound that an Urgent Quest for Spec Ops Agents was made, one that needed experienced Agents to be completed. This took priority, so Nico raised his right Bracer to check to see if he was included in the Quest roster.

Turned out he was, so Nico pushed thoughts of investigating the Coalition to the back of his mind, and began making a beeline for the Guild Building. Things had started to heat up, it couldn't be a coincidence that the coalition stuff was happening at the same time… could it?

* * *

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 **Thanks again for reading!**


	3. Conflagration Congregation

Things were hectic.

That one word described what Nico saw when he entered the Guild. People were scattered throughout the Guild Hall, taking quests like they might be the last ones they would ever take. The fresh smell of sweat rose through the Guild Hall, making him release a grimace as he held his nose. The stench was putrid, more so than a landfill.

Despite rushing the way here, the teen had taken a good 30 minutes, mostly due to crowds suddenly forming from seemingly nowhere. They were like ants crawling out of the woodworks.

Wherever they came from, all of them were protesting for action to be taken against this 'Coalition' for some reason. Before, they had been only mildly intimidated by that organisation, but now they were all like frightened rabbits trying to find shelter from hungry foxes. That alone worried him immensely, panic like this had to be born from something, something big.

As people ran about, one was close enough for him to grab. Nico reached out with his right hand and clasped the person's shoulder, stopping him from moving to his destination. "You. What is going on here?"

The person he grabbed was a man in his mid to late 30's, with a well-maintained beard with black hair and eyes. He looked plain, for the most part. His uniform, a set of purple and white robes, stated that he was a priest for the Basilicom, someone who worked more for the religious aspect of the CPUs.

Nevertheless, the man did his best to answer Nico's question… right after he managed to recoil in shock at the sight of him. "D-DEATHSTROKE! Oh, thank the Goddesses you've arrived!" he exclaimed, visibly relieved if the deep sigh from his chest was any indication.

"It appears a commotion has gathered. Normally, this would only happen in case of an emergency. What's the situation?" Nico asked again, only after the man seemed to be completely calm.

The man's eyes regained that panicked look from before, though unlike before he seemed to keep control over it, like Nico's presence was enough to put his mind at ease. "L-Lastation has been attacked, DEATHSTROKE!"

His eyes widened considerably at this information, but Nico had no time to ponder on it as the panic man frantically continued. "The Coalition has attacked one of their bases at their borders between it and Lowee. They've requested Spec Ops Assistance, but most of ours are already on different assignments. We're in the middle of searching for any we can spare, but there's not many."

Nico frowned as the priest ran off, having given the info he had on him. This wasn't good, if the Coalition has begun attacking the people they were to be protecting, then that meant they were a threat. A threat that will need to be taken care of, either by Lastation's Agents or him.

He was no fool, he knew that they wouldn't stop, idealists never stop till their goals are completed. They won't let anything get in their way, be it people, monsters or laws. Nothing would stop them from achieving their objectives.

Still though, why would they attack a base on the border of two Nations? Were they trying to make those Nations go to war? That would be problematic for both parties, because Lastation and Lowee need those borders to protect them from Monsters in those mountains.

Those borders have powerful Abnormals in them, and those bases were the staging grounds for Agents to go to when on assignments for information, and resting after a long journey. They were also where the Agents go to let the Guild know that they've killed the monster while presenting evidence.

On the flip side, the Coalition would be affected, as those bases kept Abnormals there contained, so if they fell then the Abnormals would attack nearby settlements. This would impact them just as badly as it would the two Nations.

It must truly be bad for Lastation to request help from Planeptune of all people. Lastation and Planeptune both were direct rivals, just like their CPUs on Celestia. Thus, it was normally unthinkable that they would request their help in this matter.

' _Either that, or the Coalition might be onto something that they don't want us to find out…Though, I do not have the basis for that hypothesis as of yet._ ' Nico thought, checking his Quests.

He could do this from practically anywhere as long as there was a connection to the internet, though if there was an Urgent Quest, this function wouldn't work until they report to the Guild Building. Then, they could check out the Urgent Quest.

The Quest details were lacking in information as he read them, which didn't sit well with the Spec Ops Agent. When getting involved with Quests like this, it was best to get as much information as one could, and there were several ways to go about this.

 _'Looks like I'll be having a late night tonight…'_ the male thought to himself, placing his hands in his pockets before turning to leave the Guild Building. _'I'll look into this further, do some research.'_

It had been a long, tedious process, but work that indeed yielded results. It was fortunate that, thanks to being a Spec Ops Agent, that he had high clearance.

This clearance allowed him access to information that would otherwise be classified from any eyes belonging to Guild Agents. If one were to use the traffic lights system, the adventurers were ' _green_ ', the Guild Agents the middle, ' _yellow_ ', and the Spec Ops ' _red_ '.

His research had told him a fair amount of things about the Coalition, as well as helped him form his own theories. Apparently the Coalition was an organisation that was trying to push for a new means of military operation, to push for the use of Guns to fight the monsters instead of relying just on swords and magic attacks. These attempts at change, were unfortunately ignored by the Basilicom, who were still dead set into the ways of the CPUs.

Turned out that they had had enough.

Nico didn't think they were wrong in their journey for the betterment of humanity, he really didn't. However, the ways they have gone to were the problem. Attacking military outposts that halted Monster attacks was not something they should be doing. Why they were doing this, wasn't something he knew for certain, although he did have a theory behind it.

There was a rumour that there was a special Academy built into those Mountains, an Academy that was embracing change, arming their students and teaching them the ever-evolving ways of war. If they were going to search for that place, then Nico figured they intended to either capture or destroy it, as they would pose the greatest threat to them.

Essentially, it was an extreme version of ' _the pen is mightier than the sword_ '.

That was a big no-no in Nico's book. An educational institution that taught such methods of combat should be preserved, not destroyed. If they had played their cards differently, Nico didn't doubt that these means would have been implemented better. He didn't like the thought of this Coalition destroying something so valuable to Humanity's survival, which cemented his decision.

He would take the Quest.

The journey took him a better part of 2 days, this being due to the borders he had to cross into Lastation territory, and then into Lowee. Fortunately, he had restocked his supplies beforehand, thus making the journey easily.

* * *

It was getting dark by the time Nico arrived at _Easton Point._ Navy blue linings caressed each cloud, weaving a kilt of blue as the stars twinkled like tiny lights within the darkness of the night.

The teen slowly walked to his destination, the Quest had said that the Contact awaited at a Cafe, one called _Cafe Point Unity._ He planned on meeting his Contact there to get the information he required for this Quest.

Snow on the sidewalk crunched under the feet of a dozen people walking home from work, passing the male by. It wasn't that hard to notice him as an irregularity, considering he wore mostly black and was unaffected by the weather. Unfazed by the Lowee weather, these people eyed the misplaced newcomer with suspicion as they walked past.

One last streak of headlights swept past the windows of the Cafe Point Unity. ' _Perfect_.' The male thought to himself as he walked up to the building, his hands in his coat pockets.

As he approached the glare from the cars died to a trickle, allowing the Spec Ops Agent to peer through the glass walls.

Two tired employees in aprons wiped down the many empty tables under the hum of a dim ceiling light. Their fatigue was obvious to the male as he read their body language, realising that they had been working for a long time. That meant they would likely be… less likely to co-operate if he interrogated them.

Most of the place was barren, thanks to the time it was. However, that didn't mean it was completely empty. The last few patrons sat at laptops, headphones plugged in and mugs of coffee at their side.

There was no indication of any sort of unease, everything was too calm to be affected by worry. In fact, the only strife here would be that of students of the local college studying and their papers due.

This was the place alright. Now, all Nico had to do was locate his Contact and find out what the hell was going on here. Why was Lowee so unaffected, so oblivious to the Coalition's movements? Why weren't they more proactive in exposing them? He wanted answers and he wanted them now.

The male entered the cafe, opening and closing the door behind him. When the door closed, a brief gust of warm air blew through his coat, making it flap slightly before settling back down.

The scent of pastries and caffeine overwhelmed him, no subtle indication of what this place sold.

His contact was supposed to be here today, right now. Of course there was no way to double check, as the listing was gone.

The Quest had vanished from all archives, leaving no trace of it remaining like it was never even there. He would have just went home, assuming that the Quest was cancelled, but he'd received a message from the Client to continue.

Nico had been torn on the idea, one part of him was curious and the other wanted to head back home, call his civilian friend and have a chat with her. Eventually, his curious side had won, so here he was. He had no idea what to expect, but there was only one way to find out, and that was to look for the man with the notepad.

Wandering through the Cafe, Nico scanned the surroundings, weaving through the tables and chairs throughout the place like a ghost.

It didn't take him long to locate his Contact, a man wearing a fleece hat and coat with leather gloves and boots, as he sat by one of the windows and he was the only one without a Laptop. It made him fairly obvious compared to everyone else, though he did have a Smartphone instead.

Nico raised a brow as he walked up to the man, noticing that he had earbuds in. He looked like he was heavily focused on something, which meant he didn't notice the teen's presence. Said teen changed that by tapping him on the shoulder.

In hindsight, that wasn't the wisest move on his part. The reason: The man looked up, startled, and reached for something within his coat.

However, Nico stopped him by grabbing his arm and pinning it to his coat so he couldn't draw it.

"Are you the one who contacted the Guild about the Coalition?"

His eyes narrowed and lips churned, recognition flashing by as his tension slowly ebbed away. Seeing this, Nico released his grip and took a single step back as his apparent 'Contact' swerved on his seat.

"Yeah, that's me." The man with the fleece cap shifted to face Nico, a mug of a strong smelling liquid in hand. "So... you're that Death kid?"

Nico nodded swiftly, rolling his coat's right sleeve to reveal his Bracer, one of his many calling cards as a Spec Ops Agent. He would have donned his armour, but that would cause too much of a ruckus within the Cafe, drawing unnecessary attention.

"Good." The man took a sip, then let his mug click against the table. Without hesitation, he stood up, pushing his chair out, and zipped up his grey jacket. "We can talk on the move. You are my guy, right?"

Once again, Nico nodded. He was just making sure this was the right guy for the job, so the male proved it once again, showing him his public ID on a Holographic screen, projected by his Bracer.

"Cool…" Nico's contact placed a wad of money on the counter, then started for the door with ease. He held it open, allowing the boy to step out first.

Once Nico stepped outside, the man took a stride out in front of him, gesturing for him to follow.

"I run the store 'round this corner. Not many people ride bikes around here, but for those who do, I help keep them in good condition." He explained as they both stepped into the middle of the streets. The two trudged through the sidewalk, thin patches of snow flattened underfoot.

"It belonged to my dad, who is, uh, kinda dead or something. They never found his body."

Nico nodded, a solemn look flashing briefly through his eyes. "Apologies for your loss." He stated sincerely. He had seen many people lose family and loved ones during his days as a Spec Ops, thus he knew when to say his condolences and mean them.

"Yeah…" The man responded, sighing mournfully as he put his hand atop his fleece had. "He was a good man, good husband and a great father. Sadly, life's a bitch, you know?" Nico mentally agreed, he knew all too well.

They reached the storefront. The name was _Easton Bikes!_ , and Nico couldn't help but scoff at the corny name. Though, he made sure not to comment about it in the vicinity of his Contact, as that would be both rude and unprofessional.

When they reached the door of the store, the male quickly analysed the surroundings of his new environment.

It was deathly dark in the building, but light from the street lights illuminated rows upon rows of bikes. Above the front counter was a second floor-type overhanging, and up there appeared to be shelves of merchandise along with some chairs.

As Nico became busy with analyzing his store, the man began to search through his coat pockets, his gloved hands making shuffling motions when they were inside each one.

There were about six pockets, Nico counted. "Let me see here…" He rummaged through his pockets, keys clinking until he pulled them out. Standing close to the door, his breath fogged up the dark glass. "Takes a while to get in sometimes, the lock is old and the cold doesn't do us any favors."

"Have you tried purchasing a new one?" Nico questioned as the man stood before the door, preparing to open it. If the lock was as old as it appeared, then it would likely be proven to be a safety hazard. Especially if one wasn't careful.

His words earned him a bitter, yet impressed, laugh from the hat-wearing man. "You have no idea, kid. Thing is," He paused with the door, patting the lock gingerly. "With things being the way they are, that lock might just save my ass one day. Plus, I guess it's a part of our family, sentimentality, you know?"

He jammed the key into the door, and after the sounds of frantic rattling coming from the door, Nico heard a click. The lock was done in an arduous four minutes.

The contact pushed open the door, and a gust of warm air streamed outside alongside the jingle of a bell. It was a welcome change to the cold air that they were used to when travelling through Lowee's snowy paths, that's for sure.

The man walked in first, pocketing his Keys once more, before he glanced behind him and made the 'come hither' gesture.

"Come on in, make yourself at home. We're closed, anyway." He instructed, his voice echoing off the lonesome walls as he walked over the the front desk, pulling his notepad out of his back pocket and setting it down.

Nico did just that, entering the shop and closing the door behind him, a soft THUD and a locking sound indicating that the door had locked itself upon being shut. A neat little trick, Nico had to admit, it saved a person a few precious seconds to get a head start to their day.

His thoughts were broken when the man began to speak, taking off his coat to show the thin underlayer he wore underneath. The logo of _Easton Bikes!_ was sprawled across the back.

He tossed his coat besides his notepad, then sighed, fidgeting with materials on the desk. Organizing papers, sifting through pens, anything to keep his back turned towards his guest.

"My dad's name was Eta. Weird name, right? Well, he named me Theta, and this is my store now. I kept my name, despite it kinda being weird, mostly 'cause they don't know if he's dead or not."

His explanation was short, quick and a little awkward. It seemed that this 'Theta' person wasn't too used to dealing with Agents like this, Nico noticed. Well, so far the boy could give him props for that, at least. Theta turned to face Nico, hands clasped together. Seeing the opportunity, Nico spoke.

"It appears that things are worse here than I initially suspected."

Theta couldn't help the bitter, sardonic chuckle that escaped his lips.

"I guess." He answered simply, with a weariness that made him look much older than he really was. The man looked down, as if he expected something to happen. "I really needed someone to help out here. Not the shop, I mean."

The teen suspected as much, otherwise Nico wouldn't have been here. Theta glanced behind his shoulder, at a door behind him labeled as a storage room. "Yeah, and that's not a storage room. You starting to catch on?"

The teen eyed the door suspiciously, something was gnawing at the back of his mind about that door. "It's not just any storage, is it?" He asked, though it sounded more like a statement than anything.

Theta nodded, a satisfied smirk etched onto his lips. Looks like whatever real deal Nico was expecting was here. "Come on back," Theta mused, waving Nico forwards. "Let me show you around."

The door led into a small storage room. It was plainly laid out, with rows of boxes and bike parts on metal shelves, but a stairwell in the back led down to the basement. It was not cleverly disguised at all, with nothing but a metal shelf in front of it.

"It's safe to talk down there. I've got some computers set up, and I'll elaborate some stuff for you, if you're not shy."

Oh, he was not shy, not in the least when it came to mission briefings. His expression spoke volumes about his feelings regarding that topic.

Nico was led down the cellar, which, from what he could see from the top of the stairs, was cool looking yet homemade. The male's enhanced senses told him there was electricity and gas flowing through this cellar, which made sense considering that Theta said he had computers down here.

He was starting to get the impression this was like a hidden lair that heroes and their sidekicks used to plan out their missions to fight crime.

"So…" Theta called out from the base of the staircase. Holding onto a railing, the man gave a weak wave at Nico as he came down. "This is it."

Nico raised an eyebrow as he reached the bottom.

The rectangular room was not very tall or spacious, but it certainly was space efficient. The ceiling was bare, save for some light bulbs and a maze of pipes and dusty wooden boards. A row of computers lined the wall opposite the end of the staircase, most of them baring black screens.

On Nico's left was what appeared to be a makeshift classroom, with chairs and desks facing a whiteboard. To the right was a sort of control station with a large screen and a reclining chair. Behind the stairs was a series of mini-fridges and a line of bookshelves, each one containing either books, CDs or a small box.

"What did you expect?" Theta sighed, clapping his hands together. "A school building, maybe a giant facility housing a million men? Yeah, tough luck setting up something like that in this day and age. The government will shut you down in two seconds."

Theta pranced towards Nico's left before collapsing on a couch, pulling up a bag of potato chips with a long, relaxed sigh.

"Want some?"

At the offer, Nico politely shook his head. He did his best to not show how squirmish that those potato chips made him, their scent whiffing into his nostrils, filling him with nausea. "What is this place?" He questioned him with uncertainty.

"What, you daft?" Theta growled with a mouth full of junk food. "This," He raised a free arm in the air, drawing attention to the derelict ceiling. "Is the big ol' Cornucopia Military Academy." The man swallowed, then tugged off his hat, thrusting it onto a computer screen. "You gonna… take a seat?"

The male thought about denying the offer, however his legs protested to his brain, quickly placing those thoughts to rest. With a silent nod, Nico took a seat as Theta began to explain while eating, much to Nico's displeasure.

"Those Coalition _assholes_ are coming here. I know this. Now you know this. They'll be here sooner or later, and yeah, we're kinda fucked." Theta took another clump of chips into his hand. "And before you say anything, yes, this is a school."

'I _didn't get that impression…'_ The male thought as he looked around the room. It honestly looked more like a secret hideout than an educational institution to him, but maybe that was its charm.

"You know you can trust me, right?" Theta chuckled, smirking to himself as he shifted on the couch. "It's hard, I know. But you're going to have to put your trust in me as soon as you can get your dinky agent self to do so." The bike shop owner crumpled up the bag of chips, clutching the ball in his lap as he inched towards the edge of the couch. "When I tell you to do something, you do it. Even if it's _scary_."

Theta made air quotations with his fingers as if he was mocking Nico, who didn't rise to the jab.

"The Coalition is going to be the downfall of Gamindustri." Theta stared into Nico's eyes, gettingdeathly serious. "And the CPUs will return. I know it. And when they do, whether there be a True Goddess or not, we're all going to feel their wrath."

' _I will not agree with him about the CPUs, but the beginning I can see…'_ Nico thought to himself with a frown, one that Theta took as a sign of complete agreement.

"It's gonna suck. People will die in what might be millions. Well… I don't know for sure… but I've read the stories, though. About the True Goddess. Infinite power bullshit. Real nasty stuff." He spat, then waved his arms up, stressing his point. "It seems unreal, but just think of the worst case scenario."

The Spec Ops Agent pondered this, and while he didn't agree with the man about the True Goddess stuff, he did agree with him that there will be casualties by the millions if the Coalition goes ahead with its plans. His research made it clear to him that they won't stop until their goals were achieved.

The Bike Shop Owner quickly noticed his pensive expression, though. "Eh?" Theta smirked, pointing at Nico. "I see you thinkin'." He paused, noting that the Guild Agent was not amused. "Anyways, until my guys can get here, we just have to make sure that this place doesn't burn down. Simple, right?"

"And you'd be right!" Theta slapped his knee, intending to surprise Nico. "Didn't expect that, huh? They don't know what to look for, and this is pretty well hidden, yeah?"

Theta took a breath, reaching his hand over the rightmost arm of the couch, releasing the bag of chips into a trash can Nico breathed a hidden sigh of relief at this. "Well, just don't break anything and stay quiet. I'll make dinner in maybe ten minutes. I'm thinking sautéed Dogoo with fried fish. Expensive stuff, just for you."

He paused, letting the sounds of computers whirring fill the room. "Anything to add… say, questions or comments?"

"Is there anything else you know about the Coalition? Anything at all, or a lead I could pursue on my own time?" Nico finally asked after a moment of silence. He'd been torn about asking that or for some more meaty foods, but figured the former was the most useful option for him at the moment.

Thea sighed in mild frustration as he shook his head, arms crossed under his chest. He stared at Nico for a moment, thinking of what to say. "Nope, those scumbags are an elusive bunch, both the Lastation and Lowee Military are gunning for em, but no dice."

The shop owner stretched his arms out wide, thinking about working things together for dinner. He then returned his focus to his guest, pointing at a two-seated couch.

"If that's all, then you can settle down on the couch over by the projector. The whiteboard, behind you." Theta clarified, arching a finger out behind Nico. "You'll be sleeping there. Guest room is occupied."

Nico raised a curious brow as he heard this. Someone else was here first? He wasn't informed of that. Either the Guest was newly arrived or this 'guest' wasn't a normal guest. At least, that's what his instincts told him.

"Occupied? By whom?"

"No one you need to know. Now, at least." Theta quickly deflected the question, pulling himself off the couch. "I'll scrape some errands for you by dinner, so yeah, feel free to check out the place."

There wasn't much else to do, the Spec Ops Agent soon realized. He decided to spend some time conducting more research about the Coalition using his Bracers, however there was little information on the Internet about their movements.

It was like they were limiting themselves in the public eye, no matter how obvious their impacts became. Such notions made it difficult to pin them down, but Nico was nothing if not patient. Something would come up eventually, he was sure of it.

Nevertheless, he did find this mystery 'guest' interesting. With the way that Theta deflected the question, he could only assume whoever this guest was, was someone who had power, power and influence enough to be invited here like he was. When he'd checked for the Quest Details, Nico couldn't find it listed at all, almost as if it had never been there in the first place.

Something was fishy here, but he didn't know what. Nevertheless, caution would be the advisable approach to this situation.

As for dinner, Nico ate with Theta up at the Shop, as the Cellar didn't have any proper places to sit save for the classroom. Theta had been adamant that part of the Cellar be kept clean for tomorrow. For whatever his reasons were, he didn't share them. Nico felt his trust being strained to the limit throughout this ordeal, but if he wanted to stop those Coalition ' _assholes_ ', he'd bite the bullet as it was.

"So," Theta started, holding a spoonful of doggo jelly in his right hand. They were sitting on chairs on the overhang above the front desk, looking down at the entrance to the shop down below. "You know anything about fighting?"

The male nodded, looking down at the cup of water in his hand. How it hadn't frozen over in the Lowee weather he didn't know, nor did he care to. "You could say that. There is more to fighting than just swords, shields and Skills. There has to be a plan, a goal in mind, and usually that's victory."

Theta smirked. "Now, who told you that?" After swallowing, he kicked his legs up and on top of the railing. "You're kinda right. Not exactly, but at least you have a basic idea of what to do. Makes things easier."

Nico diverted his gaze from his glass of water and up to the shop owner. His brow arched in curiosity as he wondered what the man meant. "Maybe, but there's other factors involved, like trust and loyalty between comrades. That's something that's been getting… kind of vacant in the military recently. Something tells me you know this already, otherwise you wouldn't have asked me." His eyes narrowed. "So what is it? What are you trying to achieve?"

"Alright, from the top." Theta paused in his eating, looking down at his bowl for a moment. "Well, I've got this group of guys here. We're good people, calling ourselves a funny name, the Cornucopia Armed Wing, or _CAW_ for short. Private militia. My dad founded it as a way to keep people together during the monster-induced apocalypse that he thought would happen soon, or whatever." Theta clarified, taking a bite of his food.

"With that said, we've got a severe lack of NCOs. Those are non-commissioned officers, guys that lead small units into battle. Squad leaders, yeah?" Theta tilted his head, hoping that Nico understood. "Now, since we have two of our platoons assembled and no one to lead one of them, I was thinking you could take charge of one. I'd have to teach you some things first, but with your macho and my wits," Theta smiled at the remark. "We could go really far. So… You think you'd be up for it? We need to keep the town safe until the rest of the guys get here."

Nico paused his intense gaze, looking down at the water in his hands. What Theta was saying boggled his mind. Him, a leader? Nico had never been a leader-sort, usually he just remained on his own. Whenever he was completing group assignments, he'd be a footsoldier, not an actual leader.

Still though, he did admit to himself that the idea sounded interesting. If he could pull this off, perhaps the experience could help him keep his secret under the rugs. His mentor, also his adoptive mother, had taught him much on his journey to becoming Spec Ops, including how to lead. However, that subject was largely ignored for Nico's desire to keep his secret, not wanting people to discover it. If he was a leader, then there was a greater chance they could learn what he was hiding.

"You have my attention, Sir…" Nico stated slowly, trying to keep his nervousness in check. This was a massive step for him, so he wanted to sound as calm and collected as possible.

"Hey man, don't call me fancy names like 'Sir' or whatever. Makes me feel old. Do I look old? Probably, but eh, fuck." He looked away for a moment, trying to hide his smile. "Alright. After this, maybe tomorrow afternoon, we ought to get to work on getting you acquainted with the computers and all. I've got textbook lessons that are important, but live-action is helpful…" He thought for a moment, then looked into Nico's eyes. "You're on the same level as…" Theta clapped his hands, cutting himself off and almost spilling some dogoo jelly. "Well! Tomorrow will be fun. So eat up, get sleep, yeah?"

Nico glanced down at his lap where his plate of dogoo jelly and fried meat bits lay waiting for him to eat. He did well in hiding his unease about eating foods in front of this man, but this had to be done. He had to keep the Mask up, hide his secret away and this was the best way to do that.

Thus, Nico swallowed his unease, grabbed a fork and dug in.

* * *

" _This is Puce one-one, Nickel, you there?_ "

Like a bucket of water dropping on him, Lieutenant Colonel Rogaine jerked his eyes wide open with a thermos of lukewarm Planeptune-brand coffee nearly spilling in his lap when he heard the voice come from his radio.

The commander of the Jagged Edge, nearly falling asleep in the passenger seat of his IMV, lurched his hard for the device. Illuminated by the vehicle's dim overhead lights, his whole world seemed drowsy and small. With the glare keeping him from seeing the sleeping streets of Clearton Point through the windows, Rogaine felt more alone than ever before.

"Yeah, yeah," He muttered, gazing out the car window. The world was soundless. No running engines, no ticking of clocks, nothing but his breathing and the static of transmitting sound. "I hear you. What's up, man?"

 _"Tired as fuck. I can't get no fuckin' sleep, for fuck's sake. Fuck me."_

It seemed that his subordinate was having as bad a time sleeping as he was, though the commander couldn't find it in him to be sympathetic. "That sucks." He stated dryly. "You could check in with the medical group," His words were paused by a yawn, the man glancing at his coffee. "I'll throw you a good word for something strong."

" _Goddesses be damned… I might just take up your offer._ " The leader of Puce's Alpha squad replied with a chuckle, finding the thought of finally being able to sleep a goddamn blessing. " _What's keeping you up?_ "

"Reconnaissance reports." Rogaine sighed, his free hand running across the inactivated screen of his tactical pad. "I've been worried sick about Lid. She wasn't here, right? And yet her whole guard was here. I don't understand why that'd be necessary unless she left early, is hiding somewhere in our midst, or went absent without leave."

" _AWOL bitches be messin' with you, huh._ "

"Fuckin' A." Taking a sip from his near empty thermos, the commander relaxed his head on his seat headrest. "How long have we been here? A whole damn day? You said that Glaucous found something cool with the locals. You know anything 'bout that?"

Static ran through the radio, Puce's leader transmitting but saying nothing.

" _I think they said something about a bike shop. All I know is stuff I've overheard from my guys. Shouldn't you be asking Glaucous?_ "

"Mm. I'll check in tomorrow. A bike shop is way too damn vague. Are they talkin' about an informant? Maybe even in a different town. Who the hell has a bike shop in the damn snow land, anyways?" The man questioned, rubbing his temples to soothe the aching he was feeling.

 _"Crazy Lowee assholes._ " Puce's leader couldn't help but sneer in disdain. " _These guys are fuckin' crazy, living in the damn ice and all. My mother always warned me about Loweenies. Now here I am, about to walk into their country with a gun._ " At that, he gave a bitter, sardonic chuckle. " _I don't know if I should feel like liberators or like an asshole, because those are the only types o' people who get in situations like these._ "

"Hell if I know." Rogaine paused, hoping, wishing that someone out there could give him the answer. After a short pause, the man spoke again. "That's a question I'd like to leave for later."

 _"When the ends justify the means?"_

"Oh, just shut up already. Please." Another pause. Mouth open, seeking more words. Then he felt a moment of frustration, the same split second of misdirection and bubbled fury that drove nations and made history.

With a frown, Rogaine flicked on the radio with finality.

"Out."

* * *

That night, Nico lay on the couch, looking up at the ceiling above with a pensive gaze behind his light blue irises.

With a timeless gaze, he let his thoughts run wild as the cushions lulled him into subconsciousness.

 _'Theta, so far, hasn't done anything hostile, so I don't think he is someone who is untrustworthy. But this is the first day, so I will withhold my judgement of him until I have spent significant time with him.'_

His eyes fell upon the classroom itself. While he didn't expect this, Nico had to admit that it was a decent setup. It looked well maintained, even in the dim lighting of post-curfew, like everything else in the shop, by the standards one would expect from a single owner. Nico wasn't sure if he had other workers, but the larger part of him doubted it.

Nevertheless, every question he had would be answered in time, as the saying goes, good things come to those who wait.

And he closed his eyes.

* * *

 **Chapter end.**

 **Hunter - Hey guys, next chapter is complete! Sorry for the wait, me and Z have our own activities to do in real life which take up our time. Plus, Christmas is coming soon, so yeah, even more time crossed off the list. Still, we finished this Chapter so happy reading!**

 **..**

 **Z- MAN I LOVE MY JOB**

 **Anyways, OC Submissions are always open. It's all coming together now, and I'm really excited to get down on the next chapter.**

 **Cya later!**


	4. Simulated Reality

The snow glistened in the early morning rays of the sun.

Making a rare appearance in the land of white serenity, citizens looked like they appreciated it nonetheless, as the few walking about wearing less concealing clothing.

Despite the frail sunlight streaming through crevices in the clouds, the Loweean air was deathly cold, an omnipresent feature within Lowee. There were even rumours that the Goddess preferred weather like this to cool her raging temper.

This rumour was believed by many, with devout loweeans believing it to the T, despite a lack of facts to back it up.

Down at the Bike Shop, the sun's rays shone down and through the windows, one such ray rousing Nico from his slumber. The male had been lying asleep on the couch, one arm over his forehead and the other over his stomach.

He had spent most the night texting his childhood friend and Nurse-In-Training, Compa. He would have done so sooner, but with these new circumstances, Nico had been unable to contact her at the allotted time.

The relief that oozed from her texts was almost palpable, making an uncharacteristically wide smile from on his features. That girl always knew how to make him smile, it was a talent of hers she proudly boasted about.

Shame his little happy time was about to come to an end.

—-

"Up! Up!"

The world exploded with the sound of shouting and the crash of metal on metal, banging and banging over and over again.

"Sleep is for the weak! You want to sleep in, ah?" Theta, Nico's rude awakener, thrust the bicycle parts he was holding closer to Nico's ear, banging then furiously. "Tough luck, kid!"

In response to the wakeup call, Nico swiftly took out a knife from his Void Storage, one of the many items he'd appropriated on his travels, and threw it. It sailed past Theta's head and embedded the wall behind him, the man glancing behind him to the weapon that almost ended his life. He then looked back, seeing the annoyed, tired, and irritated glare that Nico sported.

"Geez," The mechanic muttered, lowering the metal parts- a pipe and a wrench- with a smirk. "It's only 5 in the morning…"

Stepping back, with a nervous grin to his guest, Theta tucked the pipe under his crook of his arm. "I'll get some coffee together, then I want you to mess with some programs, but you've got time. Be up in an hour, alright?"

A low grumble was Nico's response as he went and stood up from the couch. He then walked over to the wall, where his Knife was embedded, and proceeded to yank it out of the walls, before putting it back in his Void Storage. He was still waking up, so Nico didn't acknowledge Theta's presence.

Before Theta turned away for good, he glanced back. "If you need money to go to town, let me know. Seriously, we have time, like, no stress and all." Theta paused, catching his breath. "That means you ought to make the most of it. Days like these won't last."

Theta nodded without waiting for a response, then hustled up the stairs two at a time. The sound of pounding footsteps on wood echoed through the floorboards, resounding through the creaky building.

Now that he was on his own, Nico checked the news, pictures and headlines displaying on a holographic screen in front of him. It was proudly produced by his Bracers, his best tool in any situation.

It seemed that there were fewer skirmishes being fought, which meant that the Coalition either saw the errors in their ways, which Nico thought was highly unlikely, or that something else was going on behind enemy lines.

That part worried Nico the most. If the Coalition attacked borders like the ones between Lastation and Lowee, what was stopping them from doing the same to the other borders, like the ones between Lastation and Planeptune? If they got his friend in trouble, then Nico didn't know would he would do… all he DID know was that heads would roll.

Theta's words echoed in Nico's mind, about spending some time relaxing before everything started. This was basically the coming of a storm, so he had better prepare for it while he could. Going outside didn't do him many favours, considering that he wanted to get things started already, so Nico decided to look at the software here.

Perhaps he could find out a bit more about this Theta character, anyways.

—

There was only one thing on Aaliyah Luckless' mind when she stood on a street corner in the center of Clearton Point. It was a small town, not very important in comparison to Lowee's capital, plus it was on the borders between Lowee and Lastation. That thought revolved around the recent incident that resulted in the town's current situation.

Armed men, obviously aligned with the Coalition, shrugged her off as they walked past her, patrolling the same streets hour after hour. She instantly recognized their uniforms thanks to their heavy presence in social media. She'd be hard pressed to find someone who DIDN'T know about them.

Of course, she wasn't their enemy. At least, she didn't know whether to choose a side or not. With so little known about this new faction, she knew that it would have to be her duty to uncover what truth that she could.

Aaliyah, known to people on the internet as her pseudonym of 'Lia', pushed up her glasses and clicked her pen twice. A coping mechanism for the pressure building up right now.

Unease was bubbling in her chest like a slowly boiling pot of water. She was denied an interview to the local commander all three times that she asked, and as an independent reporter, that was bad news. After all, if she were to disappear for some reason, no one but her readers would notice.

Taking a deep breath, Lia let her misty breath wash over her green sweater with a sigh. She was told that it looked terrible on her, and maybe that was a reason why she was turned down from an interview, but she didn't care.

Up until now, at least.

She _had_ to know more. The world _needed_ to know more.

Wasn't it selfish to not let people know about your organization, especially if you're practically at war? By not making yourself known, all that does is make you seem like a terrorist group or just a band of baddies.

Just her luck.

With another sigh, Aaliyah squeezed her pen, seeking comfort in its familiarity. At this rate, she may have to resort to drastic measures to get to the truth of the matter, no matter how much she disliked the idea. To her, the public needed to know what was going on. People needed to be informed!

"Excuse me, miss,"

In such a trance from her thoughts, the reporter suddenly jerked her head around to the voice in an instant, her glasses flinging off her face and onto the body of the newcomer from the force.

"You lost or something? And these are yours, yeah?"

"Oh," With an almost astonished reply, Aaliyah reached out and nabbed her glasses from the uniformed man. With a mask, weapon and menacing gear, there was no doubt in her mind that this was a Coalition soldier. "Thank you for your concern. A-and no," Aaliyah caught herself, straightening her back and sighed. "I'm fine, thank you."

Lia pushed her lips together, turning her attention to her notepad, a deep churning sensation in her stomach. Probably due to nervousness.

"Actually," The reporter mused, a dozen thoughts churning in her head. "I could use some help out here."

"Really?" The soldier questioned, debating it for a brief second. He must have thought it was worth it, because he went and shrugged his shoulders. "Alright, I guess. What's up?"

"Yeah, um…" Lia started, quickly turning her thoughts into words. "I'm really interested in your group, the Coalition, right?"

"Mhm." He nodded. "We're always looking for eager volunteers, if that's what you're asking."

"Yeah, well... I was wondering, there have been some rumours going that you want to cause war to erupt between the four nations, is that true?" Lia questioned, going to an empty page in her notepad.

The soldier frowned at her, but then schooled his features. "We are not looking to destroy Gamindustri, but merely to promote an alternative. The _old ways_ , the ways of the _CPUs_ , aren't getting us anywheres, thus we must change." He explained with a hint of irritation as Lia jotted this information down.

"But there is talk in social media that your guys attacked a military outpost. Why would you do that if not to cause tensions between nations?"

Apparently, Lia had stepped on a verbal landmine, as the soldier gave her a stern, dagger-like stare, as if he was implying that his next words were not really his but were aligning with protocol.

"That information is _classified_. I am not at liberty to discuss this without my _superiors permission._ " The soldier said directly and with a firm nod.

Lia tensed up when she heard that, discreetly glancing at his weapon for fear of him suddenly whipping it out and putting her out of her misery. Fortunately for her, the soldier decided against that ludicrous action and bid her farewell before leaving.

Once he was gone, Lia released a breath that she didn't know she had been holding. That was close, way too close. She felt like she had had a knife to her throat for a moment there. Those Coalition soldiers meant business, especially with their agenda still a mystery.

Her heart hammered away in her chest, blood pumping faster and faster through her body. Not only to stem the cold from the air, but also from the chills of dread that rose up her spine. She clutched her sweater where her chest was in an attempt to calm down. She took few breaths, replaying what the soldier said in her mind, in addition to what she observed when he said it.

According to him, he says the Coalition wasn't trying to cause war between Nations. To her, a reporter, that sounded like proper _BS_ , there had been little hesitation when he said that, like he had rehearsed it a thousand times over.

Then, when she tried to call him out for it, he just stiffened and offered a standard military response, the good old 'classified' trope. Thing was though, with how hard his stare became, Aaliyah had no doubts in her mind that the possibility of him gutting her with that weapon of his could easily have been a reality.

Just like walking through a minefield with her words.

Something bigger was going on behind the scenes that the Coalition didn't want to be revealed. Her reporter instincts were screaming this at her. She had to get to the bottom of it! But where should she start…?

"Yo, orders in."

Eyes widening, the young reporter dove behind a nearby trash bin, hiding behind it as a pair of Coalition soldiers, these ones looking arguably meaner than the one she had tried to interview, meandered down the cobblestone path. They didn't notice her, much to her relief, but what he said had drawn her attention. Were they making a move already?

"Shit, you serious? Man, I thought we'd have time to head down to a bar and get in on some o' that Lastation action before shit hits the fan." With a depraved sigh, the man stepped past Aaliyah's hiding place. "Guess not."

"Get it together, Parker. They're making us hoof it over to Lowee, over to some place not much larger than this shit-hole, Easton Point. Apparently we might get what we're looking for over there, and Nickel wants our platoon to investigate it."

"Easton Point? Isn't that…?"

"Yeah, piss-freeze in the middle of nowhere." The more annoyed soldier grumbled. "So shut up and get your squad together, we'll be suited up by 0600, so get your ass in gear."

"Yeah yeah, I got it!"

That was all she heard as the sounds of heavy boots gradually became non-existent. For the second time, Aaliyah released a breath she didn't realise she had been holding. While she did feel a brash of indignation at this town being called something as vulgar as a 'shit-hole' she couldn't help but think of their CPU's short temper and… similar vocabulary.

' _Wait, c'mon, focus girl! You just got some information!'_ Aaliyah shouted at herself mentally, forcing her body to move as she scrambled to her feet. She then turned in the opposite direction to that of which the soldiers went, and ran down the street like her life depended on it. In a way, it kind of did.

Easton point, she knew where that was. And if the Coalition was interested in it even by a little, then she had to get there first. Who knows what they wanted, but if her reporters instincts were correct, then she might find the answers she sought there.

Aaliyah bolted down streets and sidewalks until she spotted a familiar back alley coming up. Her eyes lit up at the sight, recognising the alleyway, before she crossed the street to make a quick turn into it. There, she saw her sole pride and joy in the streets, something that she got for her 18th birthday:

A white Jeep she liked to call 'Bumblebee'.

It stood proudly like a knight in the back alley, just waiting for its rider to board and operate.

Aaliyah beamed at the sight, remembering how she got this car from her father when she became old enough to get her own driving licence. She hadn't understood how amazing it was like to drive on the open road beforehand, but when she got this baby, oh, boy did that change.

Of course she was playfully teased by some of her other relatives because it seemed too manly for a girl like her, but she didn't care. This was her car, and the way it burnt rubber felt awesome.

Quickly jogging over, Aaliyah managed to get to its driver's door,and pulled out her Keys. She placed them in the lock, turned, and opened the driver's door before getting in. Slamming the door behind her, heart pounding a million miles an hour, the young reporter strapped herself in, before literally 'punching that shit'.

Bumblebee's wheels spun to life as Aaliyah drove out of the alley and pulled onto the sidestreet, already thinking of the quickest way to Easton Point. It was a race against time right now, and with her baby, Aaliyah intended to win.

* * *

If there was anything that could interest him, beyond his work as an Agent, then this would be it.

That was what Nico's mind concluded as the male sat at one of the computers. Starting it up had been the easy part, and it had asked him to set an account. That must be a precautionary measure, the male figured, but set up a password and credentials anyways, before logging in.

Then, the hard part came once he saw the programmes that were installed. ' _What the heck…?'_ That was what he had thought, seeing countless programmes he'd never seen before. Programmes that looked awfully complex, and had to include significant skill to navigate.

Once, he had figured on using the manual, however Nico had no idea where he could find one in this place. In addition, he would learn better by actions rather than reading, although research would have helped him learn the ropes quicker.

Opening one programme on the main screen, Nico saw that it looked to be some sort of simulation. He had seen these types of programmes before, now that he looked at it. The design might be a little different, but he remembered seeing several simulations when they would be briefed for Urgent Quests.

This one seemed like a videogame in terms of format, oddly enough like that one simulator game that was released for mobile devices, what was it called? Ultimate epic something? Well, whatever, it seemed like that, but more on the practical side like the simulations used for briefings in meetings.

He got this impression after his first attempt, with his default forces having been equipped with detailed, swords.

He had two platoons of melee soldiers at his disposal with 24 soldiers in each unit. Each platoon, on further inspection, revealed a panel that detailed a a unique description and attributes. Nico instantly recognized their armor and uniforms, making them out to be Planeptune Reservists.

The terrain for the first scenario was heavily forested and decently hilly, and as time went by, his units were showing signs of stress, fatigue and worry.

The scenario's objective was to capture a roadblock at a three way intersection. His information pointed it to be pretty far away, towards the middle of the unnamed forest.

Without further information, things appeared straightforward. His map, opening up and covering the entirety of the screen, didn't tell him much. There was no legend to the map, and the copious symbols and markings were a bit overwhelming.

He assumed that the hills he saw through the camera were the same as the tightly outlined circles on his map. Rectangles on the map matched buildings alongside a dirt road, one leading towards his target.

Simple guesswork helped him figure out some of the other symbols as well, such as streams and ponds, but diagrams and X's weren't so easy to interpret.

His units, numerous and tightly packed, grew tired as they scaled a shallow incline. One of his AI leaders advised him to allow them to rest.

Another voice, coming to him through a pair of industrial-grade headphones, crackled in the most unintelligible fashion.

Nico clicked on the unit that was laced with static and zoomed in. From a panel off to the side of the screen, an icon appeared that indicated that something had happened to their equipment. It wouldn't tell him why, though.

Minor issues much like this one kept piling on as the units marched through the trees in columns.

Some people tripped, a handful were exhausted and slowed down, and the leaders were frustrated that they were not ordered to rest.

How could he do these complicated orders? Nico scanned the screen up and down, but there didn't seem to be buttons anywhere.

' _Okay, maybe not the brightest idea of how to do things…'_ Nico thought to himself, sweat dropping. ' _Though, I do see how this works, so maybe if I tweak my forces a bit…'_

Unfortunately, the time for preparation had ended.

Noticing this, Nico wanted to pause, but discovered that the program refused to freeze, no matter how many times he jabbed at the escape key.

Nico's move order finished with his two platoons collapsing with fatigue. Soldiers fell to their knees while the commanders looked like they were highly frustrated with decisions made.

' _Hmmmm… alright, this seems to be more complicated than I originally anticipated.'_ Nico thought to himself, unsure as to what to do next. Since he had no experience with this kind of simulation, he had found himself at an impasse at what to do.

He didn't notice, thanks to being so engrossed in the simulation and how to solve it, that Theta had returned. He looked like he wanted to say something, but the words never left his mouth when he saw how Nico had his attention occupied at the moment.

Theta tentatively approached Nico on the tips of his toes before settling down just behind his chair. Curious to see how the guild agent would complete the tutorial, Theta cautiously leaned in.

The roadblock was not far now, and the weary figures could see the road poking through the trees and bushes.

Now, Nico had a choice, that was for certain. He could advance his troops to take out the roadblock, or he could have his troops rest for a bit before taking it down. He didn't know how to make them rest before, but instinct told him that resting would be a better possibility now than before.

Having soldiers operate at maximum efficiency would be far better than fatigued, weakened forces after all.

"Hey," Theta started, reaching an arm towards the screen. "Try pressing on that. Should open up a menu for voice commands."

Nico's eyes, upon suddenly realising that his silence was disrupted, nearly jumped from his seat, barely resisting the urge to pull out a hidden knife and gut the person responsible. Instead he glanced sharply and iritably towards Theta, his eyes like that of a hawk's.

"Greetings…" he responded, his tone flat and emotionless. Though, if one looked at his eyes, and had owl-like observational skills, they would see how he REALLY felt inside.

"You alright?" After a muted chuckle, the older man stepped back. Nico was a bit agitated, but Theta didn't feel that he was in danger. "This scenario was made by my dad a long time ago…" He gently rubbed his chin, reminiscing. "there's only one outcome that's obvious. Don't feel bad if things seems impossible."

After a moment of silence, Theta waved at him, seemingly impatient. "C'mon! What'cha waiting for? That checkpoint isn't going to liberate itself!"

Nico, deciding that taking a knife to this man's gut would be a bad idea right now, went and tried to initiate voice commands. He pressed on the icon that Theta had suggested, and looked up the voice commands menu. Though, he didn't know how this would work exactly, perhaps a test was in order.

"All forces, set up camp for the night."

The checkpoint, like Theta said, would have to be taken, but for now the lives of his men and the army's efficiency was of a higher priority. On the screen he could see the men almost perk up at the thought of possible rest as they began setting up camp.

Bags were thrown onto the ground and automatically, opaque lines were drawn in the air above the trees. A quick mouse-over indicated a patrol route being formed, and other lines pointed to places were a formation of foxholes were being slowly dug. The AI appeared smarter than he had thought.

Once they had finished, another button in the bottom-left of the screen flashed twice. A fast-forwards button, it seemed.

Everything darkened, as night rolled in, briefly, before day came once more. The army looked well rested, and their movements seemed much slicker than before. A small amount of amusement tugged at his heart strings, but the male didn't let that show for now. He'd feel plenty better once this thing is over with.

"Platoon One, scout out the enemy checkpoint, tell me what we're dealing with."

Nico noticed one of his platoons sent a small detachment of troops, barely over 6, to scout the enemy checkpoint from behind cover. A series of text messages appeared on screen, detailing what kind of enemies Nico's foes would bring.

Hiding in bushes and behind trees, the outlines of an armored vehicle and around six men could be sighted. The early morning foggy light prevented his men from making out their insignias, but the low enemy count was more than a relief for Nico. Unfortunately, he wasn't sure if his soldiers would be able to destroy the vehicle with their weapons.

It was a common transport with a strange machine gun-like weapon on its hood. The weapon was a new sight, but Nico knew that the car's armor could be easily penetrated, even with blades.

'Alright, that transport should be the main priority for now, I can't have it escape and bring reinforcements, that would put my troops in a bad position.' Nico thought to himself, before checking over the equipment via voice command.

"Inventory check, what equipment do we have?"

It looked like the leadership had submachine guns for side arms, while the common soldiers had pistols. Nico had little idea of what they could do completely, but from the looks of it they don't do much damage to armoured target. He'd have to rely on blades for now, but that was his specialty.

Thus, Nico decided on a move order.

"Platoon One, charge from the left flank, draw their attention away from Platoon Two. Platoon Two, flank them from the right, target the transport's rear side fuel engine."

The soldiers, having slept in the presence of their enemy, were a bit on edge. With a bit of anxiety in their voices, the leaders of the smaller units rallied together, quickly readying their attack. Soldiers jogged into a sloppy formation as they entered within earshot of their unsuspecting enemy.

His forces moved as he told them to. The first Platoon closed in on the Checkpoint, drawing their swords and yelling battle cries like a bunch of crazed lunatics. This alerted the Checkpoint to their position, and thus they responded swiftly. Each of them aimed their ranged weapons, while the machine-gun like thing aimed at their general direction as well.

In next to no time flat, a hailstorm of bullets had descended upon them like a horde of hungry vultures.

Gunshots, sporadic and accurate, crashed into the treeline. The vehicle's mounted machine gun swung onto the attackers, firing in short bursts.

Screams and cries of pain echoed through the ranks of Platoon One as they suffered heavy casualties from the first charge. Some bodies fell to the ground, flung against trees and collapsed against bushes. Their cries, resounding through the enclosed headphones, grinded away at Nico's nerves, making him grit his teeth in frustration.

He didn't like this, he didn't want to needlessly sacrifice his men like this, this didn't make him feel like a proper leader. No, he felt more like a tyrant. Someone similar to the kinds of scum that he took out on a regular basis other than Monsters.

However, thanks to this, he saw Platoon Two close in without taking that much damage. By the time that the enemy infantry noticed that they were being flanked, the second Platoon were already next to them, practically.

The following fighting looked way more intense than the previous slaughter fest that Nico witnessed earlier. It looked more like an even match with his men having gotten close enough for an offensive, all the while making their way to the common transport vehicle. They pushed through, jumping over a roadblock and shouting taunts and battle-cries, suffering casualties as enemies shot at them without mercy. Compared to Platoon One they got off way easier.

Finally, one of them wound up where the vehicle's engine would be and stabbed his sword through it. As a result, the fuel tank within ruptured, causing the vehicle to explode. This surprised and caught the Checkpoint defenders off guard, allowing the severely crippled Platoon One, which only had about 8 people left, to finally enter the Checkpoint and begin delivering harsh retribution.

The dwindling defenders, reduced to just two terrified individuals, painicked and routed. Fearing for their lives, the two men sprinted down the road without a hint of regret.

Nico cracked his knuckles, before stretching his arms back and heavy a heavy, tired sigh. "Ugh… I know I took the checkpoint… but the method I chose bothers me greatly… I needlessly sent those men to their deaths... " the male muttered, looking up at the ceiling. He bit his lower lip, gritting his teeth as he put an arm over his eyes, attempting to hide the shame showing through them. "I feel like a bully…"

Theta crossed his arms, reclining on the couch. He knew that, although it was a game, the AI had been modeled to be extremely lifelike. It rattled him sometimes, but it was an effective way to help drive in the human element of combat.

"You should feel like a bully. You led those men right into those guns. Families, friends, neighbors, poof," The man made an expanding motion with his hands. "Just like that. And for what, a checkpoint?"

Theta waited, letting his words sink in.

"Remember this feeling from now on. Now you know why we do our best to limit needless loss here. Eh, well, you didn't know that in the first place... but still. Soldiers are people, and lives aren't to be wasted without consequence."

Theta swung his legs over the side of couch, gesturing at the screen.

"I bet you've never seen one of those things, right?"

With the roar of an engine akin to a speedboat and a constant thump sound unlike Nico had ever heard before, a jet black beast crest over the horizon. A metal beast with a rotor atop its body and another one on its tail flew like a hovercraft, stabilizing a great distance away. With some sort of pods beneath the wings, Nico grimaced. Was this a new monster? It couldn't be…

"And just like that." Theta sighed, placing his hands behind his head, resting on the couch cushions. "Helicopter, you might want to take precautions. Oh, wait."

A moment of silence. Then, after an agonizing second that felt like an hour, the headphones exploded with a burst of sound louder than anything Nico had heard before. Two dozen or so rockets flung through the air, eviscerating the checkpoint and wiping out all life in the area. Everyone, everything. Gone.

The sound of static rang through the headphones before slowly fading out in an echo. No more radio transmissions from his units. Everyone had been wiped out. Gone, for good.

A blank stare was what Nico had on his features as he stared at the now black screen. For a moment, he didn't even know what to think for a moment. But after that time had passed, his brain finally kicked in.

"... It was a doomed simulation from the start, wasn't it?"

That was more of a statement than a question as soon as it left the Spec Ops Agent's lips, as he gave a dry look to the older man beside him. Said man smirked as he nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders.

"Not exactly, but yeah, pretty much. Still, the fact that you feel the way you do means you got some potential." he remarked, just before his lips fell from an amused smirk to a thoughtful, distressed frown. "Most guys did their jobs, sure, but mainly for petty reasons like ' _glory'_ or ' _fortune'_. You on the other hand, your reasons are simply ' _Because it's what I know.'_ Kinda weird, but those were your words..." He muttered. "But still, that's makes you unlike a majority of Agents out there."

"People fight for reasons like that, true." Nico stated, his eyes staring emptily towards Theta. The man wouldn't say it, but that stare seemed kind of unnerving for some reason; he repressed the urge to shift in discomfort. "However, me? I don't fight for some obligation or cause. I fight… because its all I know, its all I want to know."

"Alright, all things aside, you didn't know all the controls nor the capabilities this stuff has. There's a lot to learn, and all that happens in there might as well be real life. That's why we use that to teach as opposed to your classic textbook shit."

Well, he liked this method better than textbooks anyways, Nico mused in his mind.

Theta stood up, walking towards the stairs.

"We'll be waiting up on the balcony again," Theta leapt up the stairs with energy emanating from his body. "Pancakes, my dude!"

' _Wait, did he say "We'll"?'_ Nico wondered. Was there someone else here that he didn't know about? Thinking back on it, the male DID recall that there was a guest here he wasn't allowed to know the name of. ' _Also… Goddamnit, more trips to the bathroom…'_

"Lid makes 'em really good." Theta shouted with a smile, standing at the top of the stairs. "Hurry or they'll get cold, y'asshole!"


	5. Lid

"Field Marshal Powell, Sir."

Deep within the Planeptune-Lastation Command Complex nestled within the mountains, the Field Marshall of the Coalition sat at ease in his personal quarters.

The modern-looking furniture were draped in white, radiating a professional his television mounted above the room's dresser, the Field Marshal's intelligence officer could be seen sitting at a desk elsewhere in the facility.

"Speak your mind, Colonel. I have time." Powell, as he was casually referred to by his friends, reclined in an armchair at the base of his bed. In one hand was a steaming cup of Verdant Tea. In his other hand was a black book, its title written in an unknown language.

"Sir. Update on the Yankee-White you ordered. Teams Easy and Able, with assistance from a local, report a complete success. The intel gathered is classified, for your eyes only."

"That's fine," Powell sighed, inhaling a long sip of tea. "Tell me the gist. I'm in the middle of reading at the moment, and I'd rather not break my train of thought."

"O-okay, sir." The Colonel took a deep breath, bringing up a manila folder. He was a bit surprised that his commanding officer would be so nonchalant, especially with classified materials.

After pulling out a thick pile of papers, he started reading to himself. It only took a seconds for his hands to begin to sweat. There were things here, things here that would change the entirety of their operation. With another deep breath, regaining his composure, the Colonel formed words.

"They're real." He stated, not sure how to speak. "Successors to the CPUs, CPU Candidates. To assume the title of CPU proper in times of extreme crisis or loss to the CPU proper."

"So, we have a new objective." Field Marshal Powell muttered in satisfaction. "This could be the finishing blow we've been looking for. An end to the CPU dynasty."

"We have their locations, but they're out of our reach."

"For the time being." The older man responded heartily. "And then we'll have what we need. A new government. One that listens to us, respects us. That's all we ever needed."

"You say that with such certainty, sir." The officer gently set the papers down, shifting in his seat.

"I've been to places you would never believe." Powell slowly flipped a page in his book. "Seen things you'd never thought were possible."

The Field Marshal took another drag from his tea, sipping it as if he were addicted to it. It reminded him of times past.

It grew quiet. Quiet in a peaceful sense, quiet in a way that gives room for thought.

Both parties digested the new information, thinking of the future, the present, and how things were going to change. It was humbling, thinking how much they could change their world. Gamindustri.

They felt good. They were fight for the good of Gamindustri, after all.

"Say, Colonel."

"Yes sir?"

Powell flipped a page in his book. "What was the name of that local? The one that helped out Able and Easy."

"Let me see..." The Colonel rifled through the papers once more, looking into the after action reports. "Looks like her name was Arfoire."

* * *

Upon walking back up to the main shop area, Nico and Theta headed to the Kitchen, located to the left of the 'storage room' entrance. The male Spec Ops Agent had to endure the smell of pancakes as it whiffed into his nostrils, if he were alone then he would have shown his discomfort much more noticeably.

 _'Ugh, this stench… it's like rice dipped in car oil and stirred in kerosene._ '

Displaying prior experience in hiding his emotions, Nico managed to keep his disgust for food hidden behind an emotionless mask. There was no indication as to what he really felt inside, nothing, not even a twitch of a finger. Situations like these reminded him of walking along a tightrope. A long, thin tightrope where even the slightest miscalculation could result in things that Nico NEVER wanted to come to light.

As for Theta, the man was the complete opposite as he rubbed his belly, humming in delight as his nostrils ingested the smell of the pancakes. He then stepped towards the Kitchen door, grinning as he glanced behind him at the Spec Ops agent. "C'mon shy guy. Time to greet the missus." He urged him with a teasing undertone.

"Man, smells awesome! Just thinking about it makes me hungry." Theta turned around, raising an eyebrow at the younger one. "I make terrible food, so when other people come cook, it's fantastic." At the top of the stairs, Theta wondered why Nico didn't seem amused. "What, you don't like food or something?"

The teen didn't respond to the verbal jab, much to Theta's disappointment. His enhanced hearing picked up the _'geez, can't even take a lil' joke, can you?_ ' from the man who had muttered that under his breath, but Nico was more focused on keeping up his facade. A task that got significantly harder to do once they were inside the Kitchen.

The room was rectangular with the walls coated in aging white panels. A table sat in the center, taking up a good portion of the space. Theta wiggled his way between the table and a wall, ducking his head beneath a shelf loaded with a surplus of engineering magazines.

Across from Theta was a sink embedded into a long countertop, and the window above it revealed a tiny suburban backyard. With the hum of the stove's exhaust fan in full swing, the girl standing by it didn't notice the duo's entry.

"Gee, you look lively, today!" Theta exclaimed, sliding towards her with a mischievous smile. "Take that arpon off, you look ridiculous."

Startled, her reflexes acted instantly. Like a viper suddenly pouncing on her prey, the woman didn't hesitate to pull a knife on the mechanic with a startled look in her uncovered red eye. When she saw who it was, her eyes changed into eyes of annoyance, lowering the knife.

"Don't do that!" She snapped. The girl, Lid, quickly sheathed her weapon and reached an arm for the fan's power button. She clicked it off, crossing her arms.

' _So, this is Lid, huh?_ ' Nico wondered, examining the woman closely. He took in every feature she had, and assessed her in his mind, calculating her as if she were to be a risk to other people's safety.

His distrust for others shone through in this moment as he scrutinized the woman. She, like most of the females in Gamindustri, was a pale, fair skinned girl with small almond shaped red eyes, one of which was covered by an eye-piece, and atop her head was moderately long, milky blue hair worn with a dark green bandana.

Her attire consisted of a revealing white and dark green top with black accents. By revealing, it practically exposed nearly the entirety of her cleavage, something which made Nico's brow mildly twitch in annoyance. He knew that seduction could work as a battle tactic, he'd seen several sparring Spec Ops Agents pull it off, which lead to some… interesting situations he'd rather not go into.

She wore a matching skirt/shorts hybrid thing, with slits cut out on both sides of the leg. Again, seduction technique, dirty but effective. Around the waist, was a black belt, while her hands were covered by black fingerless gloves. Black leg straps adorned her thighs, while tall dark green and black boots with white accents adorned her feet. Her right leg had a single black stocking with red lines all over it, covering the leg right up into her shorts/skirt thing. 'She has the aura and demeanor of a trained military professional… but with a hint of someone who is easy to tease.'

Something else registered in Nico's mind when he was observing her. 'Could she be the Guest that Theta spoke of? It seems like that was the case, but why conceal her presence from him? Did he not pass the first test? Wait, test…' Something told him that he might be the only one who is all paranoid around here. 'I'll ask when I get the chance.'

"Yeah, cool, whatever." Theta clicked, placing his hands on his hips. "I hope you bought real toppings this time. That damn MRE jam makes me sick." The man commented, shuddering as if he were remembering something traumatic.

' _Ugh, you try having my senses, then you can talk all you want about being sick!'_ Nico raged in his mind.

Unaware of his thoughts, Theta glared at the misshapen pancakes, formed messily and probably made with too little milk. "Looks fantastic. Now," Theta continued, wincing at the mess made on the countertop. "Sort your shit, then sit down."

Hearing the underlying commander-like tone in his voice, Lid's hostility slowly dimmed to a reluctant obedience.

"Understood, _Sir_." She replied with slight bitterness. With a scowl on her face, Lid shifted towards the countertop.

"Ten seconds." Theta muttered, picking up the pancake-laden pan's handle and moving it towards the table. "Nico, mind pulling over one of those mats o'er there? Thanks, man."

Swiftly, Nico responded with a wordless nod, heading towards the specified area and pulling out a mat for the Kitchen Table. The mechanic eased the pan down on the mat.

"Twenty seconds." The man glanced over his shoulder to find Lid hard at work, flipping on the sink and letting the water splash over all the bowls and utensils. Casually, Theta sidestepped over to a shelf, retrieving a trio of plates.

Mildly, the male wondered why he was counting in seconds. Could that also be some form of testing? Was he not the only one being evaluated here? Something told him that was the case, but he kept reminding himself to confirm it when he got the chance.

"That's thirty…" The mechanic set down the plates and pulled out a chair. Then he gestured across the table. "Take a seat if you want, forks are over there." Theta pointed at a cutlery filled cup in the center of the table.

Instead of sitting, Nico gathered the cutlery together and set the table, making sure to get the setting right and with decent speed. It reminded him of when he would help Compa's grandfather set the table for their meals.

"Done!" Lid exclaimed, patting her hands on her apron. "How long was that?"

"Eh, thirty five." Theta smiled, using a spatula to pull over three pancakes at once. "Now sit down, you're making me look bad."

"Sure…" Lid sighed, pulling out a chair beside Nico. Eyeing him with a curious suspicion, she pulled over a handful of utensils.

When he heard the 'looking bad' comment, Nico decided to get some payback on Theta for waking him up as rudely as he did this morning. Behind his emotionless mask, a fiery vengeance swelled within his chest. When he wanted payback, he damn well got it.

"Looking bad? I assume that you mean 'I look bad every single day of my life' and thus try to make people wear revealing clothing for my own amusement."

Theta smirked so widely it seemed criminal. What did he know that Nico didn't?

"You're gonna fit right in." With a nod, the man stuffed his face full of pancakes. "We're going to have a good time," He raised his voice as he eyed Lid, feeling mischievous. "All of us."

Lid glared at Nico, a glint of fear in her eyes. Under her breath, she nudged him in the shoulder. "You son of a bitch! He's gonna kill us worse than last time, just- just keep your mouth shut, new guy."

Innocently, Theta took another bite.

"Judging by that response…" Nico began, not even flinching or losing his Mask as he eyed the pancakes in front of him. The nudge that Lid forced on him wasn't even registered. "I can assume that the two of you have a prolonged history. The way you prepped the Pancakes and followed his orders to the latter accompanies this theory." He didn't care what Theta was like on her, Nico could take it and give just as much punishment.

While Lid eyed him out of the corner of her eye, Theta did nothing to hide the amusement at Nico's deduction skills.

"You could say that. It's more of a thing where I'm supposed to be in charge, believe it or not." Theta swallowed.

"Lid is the first of this exchange program that's going on between us and Lastation's government. Since Black heart isn't around, they thought it'd be cool to try new things with their conventional military." The man flashed Nico a grin. "Unlike you, who was invited here, I'm teaching her for cash and shiny guns. Therefore, I've got no obligations towards you, Nico."

The man dipped a bit of pancake into a cup of syrup, then again into another cup of suspiciously red-looking jam.

"After this we gon' have a game. And I'd like to have a word with Lid once we're done here, yeah?"

The underlying meaning behind that sentence indicated that he wanted that to be a private conversation. Nico decided to oblige this request for the time being. While Theta had this sarcastic, borderline sadistic humour to him, so far he seemed passionate at what he was doing. That, Nico could respect in a man, so he wordlessly nodded in acceptance, before starting to cut up his pancakes.

Once he put the first piece in his mouth, Nico used his willpower to shrug off the gross disgust welling inside his gut at the sensation that assaulted his taste buds. _'This taste… it's way worse than what I described from the scent before.'_

"Nice… So Lid, meet Nico. He's a fancy-shmancy Guild guy who likes decapitation or something. Nico, meet Lid. She's your enemy."

 _Enemy_? Nico glanced at her warily, just a millisecond away from donning his Armour to run a Plasma Claw through her chest. If she tried to make a move, he would tear her spine out through her mouth and stab her head with it. Theta must have noticed the subtle tensing in Nico's muscles, for he elaborated on his comment.

"Well, not like that!" He exclaimed, holding back a wave of laughter. "You're rivals now. Not enemies in the sense that you'll be trying to kill one another off… jeez," He paused, holding up a cup of the jam to his nose. "Wait up, is this ration jam?"

"I did not go to the store today." Lid nodded, eyes closed. She looked mighty proud of herself… but then it all went to shit once she began her next sentence. "Rations are nutritious and sufficiennt… suffishint… sufficient!" Lid finalized with emphasis. Her face flushed with concentration as she tried to say a certain word. "As an entire day's meal. This Jam has enough calories to-"

"Mhm, yeah, cool," Theta interjected, stuffing his bite into his mouth. He then looked to Nico while dismissively gesturing to the fuming girl. "So, Lid likes army stuff that tastes like absolute crap."

"H-hey!" She snapped, holding firm to a fork. "They're not that bad!"

"Nope, they're bad. That jam is so fuckin' sweet it hurts my tongue." Theta stated with the bluntness of a Hammer. Lid promptly looked like she had been slapped in the face at the words, but the truth didn't stop there.

Looking at the jam, Nico had to make an observation of his own. "Hmmm… I see… so that's why this jam tasted almost like dog shit grinded into expired toothpaste." he remarked. "I assumed it was a faulty cooking method, but maybe it's not just that."

Theta smiled at that, but quickly returned to a neutral expression. "That's… really descriptive. You must have dog shit pretty often. Favorite food?"

If Theta wanted to insult him, he'd respond with more blunt comments. "Oh, you have no idea, almost everything I eat is dog shit." Poor guy didn't even realise the truth to Nico's words, and the male couldn't help but feel smug satisfaction when he saw the perplexed expression on Theta's face.

He wasn't exactly admitting his secret, just that food tastes very bad to him in a general sense. No matter how well it was cooked, it was the same. We can thank his 'condition' for that little part of him.

"That's…" The older man lowered his fork, letting a chunk of pancake hover below his chin. "Concerning. There's a clinic downtown, it wouldn't hurt to check up on your digestion."

Nico shook his head. "I already did that once, and believe me you don't want to know the results." he stated grimly, making a sense of tension from over the table.

"I'll say." Theta replied, nodding his head several times in agreement. After a pause, he continued. "Hey, Nico, you try MREs, right? What's your least favorite kind? Mine are Virtua beans and rice."

"I would have to say curry." Nico responded. "It's easier to swallow if it isn't an MRE and is prepped naturally. To put it in layman's terms, think rotten fish guts doused with car oil and stirred in diseased garbage." That was way truer than the man could ever realise, Nico seamlessly thought to himself. Normally cooked food was terrible, but MRE's nearly made him break his Mask. That was why he never had many of them before, and if he did, he'd make damn sure he was near a bathroom and alone.

"...I'm so, so sorry for you." Theta mumbled, stuffing his face.

Lid took a deep breath and slowly let it out as words.

"You all have terrible, terrible taste."

Both men turned to her with the exact same, stoic faces, speaking in absolute union. "You have NO room to talk, girl." Their statement hit her harder than a sledgehammer, and if this were an anime, she would have an imaginary arrow stabbed into her heart with the word 'cooking flunkie' along it.

It was a sad day to be Lid.

* * *

After the meal was over, Theta instructed Nico to head downstairs and read up on the simulation's manual, which he reluctantly complied. Memories of the last time he was at that simulation, along with the screams of the dying, filled his mind. He did NOT want to have that happen again, though if things would go the way he predicted they would, he would have to suck it up and get better.

With the General and the mechanic left in the kitchen, Lid sat patiently as Theta cleared his throat. Standing, with his hands on the backrest of his chair, he spoke without a hint of sarcasm.

"You're not in trouble. That Nico thinks he's top shit, I know, but I'm trying to teach him humility." He paused, letting Lid think. "We're going to do a short simulation before we take him to the barracks, where you're gonna kick his ass."

"Speaking of ass-kicking," Theta paused, letting his head sag for a moment as he formulated words. "I received an email from Lastation CENTCOM today."

"I'm being sent back? Am I needed?" She eagerly barked.

"It's… it's about your unit." He sighed. There was no easy way to deliver bad news. He wasn't good at it, and never was. Theta just hoped that Lid wouldn't overreact. "Coalition took them down a few days ago, intel is spotty."

Silence.

"Please elaborate." Uttered the Lastation General.

"There was a fight, Clearton Point was cut off."

Lid scowled. She needed a moment of processing, then she continued.

"What? You're telling me… and… Clearton Point was my station… what the hell!? Why didn't you tell me earlier? I… you... son of a bitch… why-"

"You would never have gotten there in time, Lid." He slammed on the table, voice stern but level. "And you're not ready yet. You're inexperienced. Think you're tough shit. You know what your outfit was equipped with. You know that, even if you were there, you'd just be counted among the casualties."

"No! No I would not have!" She retorted, emotions grappling for control. "I excel in the simulations. I am a General in Lastation's armed forces, Goddesses be damned!"

The woman shook her head, feeling angry, then sad, then betrayed, then angry again.

"You're just a faithless, spineless heretic!" Lid continued, standing up with her chair nearly tipping over. "So controlling, never let me make my own decisions! I'm a General, not some yuppie-scum millennial helicopter mom refusing to give their child a LeanPox shot!"

"Yeah, and-"

"No, _sir_! Let me talk for once! I'm a grown woman. I refuse to allow my subordinates to die because of my cowardice, my inaction!" She huffed. "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell me?!"

Theta looked down at his hands. They were cold, knuckles stained with wear. He was conflicted at the time, but as the nights passed he came up with a reason, a method to his own twisted action. He knew Lid would hate him for not telling her, but he felt things. Things that would doom him in the field.

Words didn't come easy to him, not in person. Not like he had rehearsed it in his head.

"Grow up, Lid."

That was all he could say, all he could think of without succumbing to a guilt that he knew was unfounded.

"That's all you say? That's your excuse for not letting me beat them back?"

"You could never have won, even if you were there in time."

"You're just saying that to keep me quiet." She sighed, pain and anger dripping from her tongue. "If only the See-PUs were here. They'd listen to me. Black Heart would agree with me."

Theta sighed as well, holding back a smile at her verbal error. "So they would. And so we would return to the days of swordfighting, and so the Cornucopia would be rendered obsolete. Just like before the Coalition."

"On, shut up." She waved him off. "I'm not going to pity you or your stupid school."

No one moved, and the snow outside glistened like glitter in the Lowee sunlight. The air felt thick, hard to breathe.

"I know." Theta muttered, nearly at a loss for words. "And that's what I fear most."

* * *

If anything could have gone wrong, it just HAD to be today.

A cold shiver passed through Aaliyah as the reporter trudged through the snowy forests of Lowee, her breath visible as puffs of smoke as she moved like she was being hunted by something. She may as well have been considering what had happened.

She had only made it halfway to Easton Point, and then something like a projectile had hit her beloved Bumblebee, exploding and knocking it off the road. She spent over three minutes bopping it within her beloved Jeep as it skidded off the road, bouncing several times before landing sideways in a ditch.

Luckily the blast wasn't the result of a penetrating round, or else her whole car would have been torn apart in an instant.

The reporter had barely gotten out in time, dazed and confused, before her jeep erupted in a sea of flame.

At the time, she had been too busy lamenting the loss of her jeep, the ride her father had given her for her birthday, to look for any sign of the shooter. But now? Now she knew, plus the faint silhouettes of moving vehicles in the distance was a good indicator.

The Coalition.

 _'But why? Why would they attack me, a simple reporter, on my way to Easton Point?'_ That thought had honestly been striking her as off throughout the entre journey.

Her scarf fluttered in the biting Lowee wind as her mittens were clutching her stomach.

Fortunately for her, she had a few health potions on hand, so she had been able to treat her wounds pretty easily. Said wounds were merely consisting of burns and slightly cracked ribs, nothing those potions couldn't handle.

Maybe they realised that she was a danger to them if she got to Easton point before them? After all, a reporter getting the 'wrong impression' could spell doom for any organisation's image. She knew this to be true thanks to the many games with military conspiracies she'd played when she was a kid.

Part of her wondered why she hadn't encountered many Monsters, especially Abnormals, during her trek to Easton Point. Those thoughts quickly faded in freezing cold of Lowee's climate, lost in the will to keep moving.

Looking up at the skies above, Aaliyah tried to judge what time it was. She didn't want to risk taking her Phone out in this weather. A snowstorm had been on the way according to the last time she'd looked up the weather forecast, and it looks like for once those dumb forecasters would be right. She would have to find shelter, and fast.

As if by stroke of good luck, Aaliyah looked to the side and saw a medium sized outcrop nearby, lodged right in the side of a snow-covered hill. It could be a 10 minute walk to get there, but she didn't have that many options. Outcrops had high possibilities for caves, and caves meant shelters from the cold. She could use her clothes as a heater for the cold anyways, since by the time she would get there, gathering wood and building a bonfire would take too long.

' _Whelp, better get moving, then._ ' She thought to herself, heaving her heavy bones to the outcrop.

10 minutes later, she arrived there, and to her good fortune there was a small cave hidden within. Looked like the CPUs were smiling upon her today, something that brought more comfort to the young reporter than she'd care to mention. Walking into the cave, Aaliyah sighed as she let herself slump onto the cave's back, the cold in here was nothing compared to that of the outside.

Minutes passed, and the cold weather outside gradually got worse and worse. Visibility began to drop as the storm neared the area she was in, and Aaliyah became more and more grateful that she had found out that this place was nearby. She knew that being out in the cold for too long could give people hyperthermia or other cold-related diseases like frostbite. She did well enough in highschool to know that fact.

As she cuddled herself in the fetal position to keep warm, the sound of her phone ringing suddenly broke through her senses. Her eyes widened as she quickly ran a hand through her large coat, large and insulated to help with the cold. It was the only item she'd managed to salvage from her destroyed Jeep, thank the Goddesses. She also took some headphones out from her Inventory, plugging them into her phone before checking to see the name of the caller.

IF.

A great, wide smile formed on the reporter's face. "Heh, girl sure has some lousy times to pick to call me…" she muttered under her breath while shaking her head. Nevertheless, she could use a talk to a good friend she had. Pressing the answer button, Aaliyah pressed the phone beneath her headphones and onto her ear.

"Hey, IF, been a while."

"Yeah, it has girl. Sorry I haven't been calling recently, I've been up to my neck in Quests. These Monster sightings are proving to be quite the problem, the Guild hasn't enough Agents to take all the Quests that are showing up."

IF's voice came from the other side, sounding a bit hoarse and strained to her, making Aaliyah frown. She knew that the situation with the Guild wasn't too good, its Agents were stretched thin to cover the areas where the Military couldn't keep sending troops anymore. "Try and be careful, IF." she gently scolded. "I'd rather not have to write an article about the 'Windwalker of Gamindustri's' demise. I'd lose another bestie if that happens!"

"Hahahaha, yeah, I feel you there. I'll do what I can on my end. Anyways, how's you? Any good stories yet?"

Oh she had no idea. IF and Aaliyah had met one time when she was visiting Planeptune for a temporary vacation. The Guild Agent had been drained from work so when they met she… hadn't been exactly the best of conversation starters. Though to be fair, she had been struggling with her reporting that time as well, so she was equally as stressed. Though, a night of drinking and confessing about their problems quickly changed all that, and since then they had been speaking regularly.

Through clattering teeth, she spoke. "You could say I'm following a lead. If it works out I'll have one hell of a story to upload."

"Shit, really? Good on you. Though, I have to admit, if it's about the Coalition then you should be careful. Those asses came to the Guild today and tried to set up a recruitment booth in the main hall. I can't help but worry about things over here."

Now THAT got Aaliyah's attention, and not in a good way. "Wait, seriously? Shit, I knew that the Guild's full of people who worship whoever they wanted, but for the Coalition to take interest? Fuck, things must be going worse than I thought. Wait, why were they in Planeptune in the first place?"

"Hell if I know. I'd make a point of trying not to think about how fucked up people think. It's much less stressful, less grey hairs. Anyways, I gotta go, there's this new quest that popped up, looks urgent. Talk to you soon."

"Yeah, you too. Bye." Aaliyah said, and with that, she hung up the phone, pocketing it inside her coat but keeping her headphones on. Some extra cover for her ears was something she greatly appreciated right now. Still though, she learned something new today. Apparently the Coalition was branching out to the other Nations, not just Lastation and Lowee. Propaganda maybe? IF did say they were trying to set up a recruitment booth...

Looked like things were getting more and more interesting around here.

' _Heh, I wonder what you're thinking right now, dad?'_ She wondered, a brief chuckle escaping her lips as she looked up at the Cave's ceiling. Her eyes darkened with reminiscence as she thought about happier times. ' _Looks like your little reporter's got herself in quite a jam, this time. But, for the sake of the truth, I will prevail. The truth must be told.'_

* * *

Whoever said that hard work doesn't pay off…

" _Hmmmm, I see, so that's how it works, huh?_ "

… obviously hadn't seen Nico when he's in full work mode.

The boy had found himself the Manual for the simulation and was practically studying like a university student. He sat at a Desk, the manual open on one of its pages detailing a control system that the simulation had at its disposal. Above his right bracer, several holographic screens showed various sites, notes and other pieces of research Nico had done floated about.

The teen looked like he was studying like there was no tomorrow, his eyes filled with an intense desire to get this research done.

If anyone were to look at him before, they would see nothing but a machine, a machine who would do nothing save for what it was told to do.

But now? Now, there was a fire in Nico's eyes, burning as intensely as a star. It consumed his entire being, driving him further and further to do what must be done. His drive to study came from one fact, and one fact only. A fact that had been ingrained into his mind the moment his mind had registered it:

He NEVER wanted to feel like the way he did back at that last simulation ever again.

Never before had he felt like such a pathetic waste of space. Sure he considered himself such on a regular basis, but this was a new low for him. How he loathed it when he sent those men into battle, only for them to suffer cataclysmic casualties. Their screams of pain and death rang in his ears constantly, reminding him ever-so-much of his failure.

He may have taken the checkpoint, but for what purpose? In the end, he had lost the simulation anyways, even if it was rigged. The rigging wasn't the important issue here, though. It was that he had to learn in this new environment. He had to learn everything he could in order to survive.

Adapt and change or stay still and die.

That was the philosophy that his teacher, or rather his adoptive mother, had instilled in him during their training. She taught him how it was best to have as many options in battle as humanly possible, so that one was prepared for a variety of situations. It was why he had a bucketload of stuff in his Void Storage, from monster materials, to various weapons and ammo for them. He was pretty sure he had a detonatable fusion core in there somewhere, too, although that could potentially level an entire city block, so…

Nico spent so much time studying, lost in his world or research and discovery, that he failed to notice anything else… at least until the last second.

"Boo!"

Theta snapped the word into Nico's ear, leaning over the couch.

Eyes wide and instincts on full alert, the male acted on what they told him. Nico jumped and reacted on instinct, grabbing the man by the side of his head and smacking him right dab into the ground with the force of a wrecking ball, enough to give someone a concussion.

Incapacitated, Theta hugged the side of his head as he writhed in pain. Lid, with her one exposed eye widened in complete surprise, accelerated from a lazy walk down the stairs into a full sprint.

"What?" Lid exclaimed in horror, inserting herself between the two. "What the hell, Nico?! You could've killed him!"

Lid then kneeled down, placing two fingers on Theta's neck. He had a pulse and he was still conscious. For a moment Lid wondered what the hell she was doing- checking his pulse for no reason- before reaching an arm into her inventory, searching for Healing Grass.

With a clump of Healing Grass in one hand and an elastic bandage in the other, she instantly spread the bandage over Theta's forehead. Blood, oozing in a trickle and pooling into a nasty-looking puddle, stained the bandage red as the bleeding was halted. With a firm hand, Lid then inserted the Grass into a reluctantly-receiving mouth, hoping his wounds would close faster than sooner.

With him treated so far, Lid shot to her feet up and glared at Nico. "That was seriously uncalled for!" She shouted, furious.

Nico's response: a blank stare. "He shouldn't have snuck up on me, he's lucky I didn't tear his spine out through his mouth."

"What kind of person are you? That's not just heartless, but genescopy- gene-rollie…" Lid winced in anger at her own incompetence. "Generally rude. Really, you know that this man is not only keeping me from shooting you, but also holding this whole place together?"

In response to her anger, Nico gazed into her lone red eye, then down at the downed Theta. His eyes stared, almost lifeless, at his from, before he took out a hidden knife from his boot. "You say that you would shoot me if not for him, yes?" he questioned, emotionlessly.

"Well... " Lid started, fuming. "I'd first strangle you, then I'd stab you into a wall with my favorite knife, then I'd use a machine gun to put a hole in each one of your limbs, finishing with your head. You're such a damn brat!"

"... I see." He stated, not even affected by her words. The teen then looked down at his knife, making no move to attack her. No, he was going to do something else. If this were anybody else, then he wouldn't be doing this at all. However, these two were in the military- militia or otherwise- and they would be soldiers. That meant there was a big chance that they've seen some fucked up shit in the world.

This would only be a piece of it.

"I would not try to stop you if you did, but there would be one problem." He stated.

"Oh, and what would that be?" Lid queried with a snarl.

"This."

In an instant Nico stabbed the knife into his opposite hand. Lid's eye widened at the gesture, disbelief replacing the hot fury that filled her before. However, when she got a closer look, that disbelief soon turned into a mix of shock, horror, and confusion.

The knife… on the moment of impact with his skin… shattered into pieces.

There was literally nothing left of the blade once it made contact with his skin. It was like it was a brittle toothpick stabbed into a wall. Nico dismissively tossed the useless hilt away.

"As you can see, such moves would be a useless endeavor. My body would literally break them before you could even blink." he stated, not showing the slightest hint of emotion from his display.

As some people would say: Got her!

"Okay." Lid blinked. "I'm not concerned that you refuted my jest. I'm concerned that you won't die. At least now we know who to use as fodder from now on." She sighed, still angry. "You hear that, Sir?"

"Fuuuuuuuuck me…" Theta groaned, placid. "I'm hearing you. Just fuck off for a second, just one second. Still hurts."

The General frowned at Nico, crossing her arms. "I'm not going to forget this. And I'm not going to forgive you. Take a damn seat." She glared at him, nudging in the direction of the monitors. "Do it."

While he didn't show it, Nico mentally frowned when she said that like an order. He didn't like it when she ordered him around, but chose not to comment. He could use what he had gleaned to fight her in the upcoming battlefield. Moving to his seat, the male wordlessly sat down and waited, retaining his blank facade.

"I've been briefed on what we're doing next, since I, a qualified member of Lastation's armed forces, have been trained in this. I will elaborate our situation to you, as all officers should be able to do when given a briefing." Lid slithered behind Nico, keeping an eye on his arms in a single cautious movement.

It didn't help that he looked like he was about to make her his second victim based on body movements alone.

"Now then, you slimy piece of shit, we're going to partake in a little simulation. This one will pit you against me, and you will not be able to win." Lid snaked her arm over to the control panel, sliding her fingers across the screen with quick, deliberate movements.

The briefing screen was shown, and a large text document popped up alongside some images.

"Don't read this. It's all bullshit. It's supposed to tell you the background of each match, and this one revolves around a Lastation invasion of Planeptune." She spat, grimacing at the sight of Nico. "You're going to be put in charge of the main defending force. I'll be the one shelling you from afar. Good? Good." Lid stood up, stretching her back. "There's a VR headset behind the monitor. If you want to use it, please don't make it sticky with your prepubescent acne grease."

The General backed away, marching over to a monitor on the complete opposite end of the row.

"Theta! We're starting." She bellowed, reaching for a pair of headphones. The blue glow of her screen illuminated her already blue hair, making it seem darker than it should be.

"Fuck off…" The mechanic mumbled, struggling to pull himself onto the couch. With a groan, he continued. "I don't care, go and do what you want already."

Nico put on his own VR headset, his eyes briefly flashing with the screen. In that moment, a glimpse, a faint glimpse of something shone through his blank facade: Glee. Predatory glee.

Lid had no idea what she was about to face.

* * *

 **AN:**

 **H: Hey yall, Hunter here.**

 **Another chapter complete. Srry for not updating sooner, our schedules are different so it's hard to create chapters together. Thank god for Discord.**

 **Anyways, read, fav, review, all that jazz. Over to you, Z!**

 **...**

 **Z: Thank you, good sir. Tonight's weather appears to be cloudy with a slight chance of 105mm, not a bad idea to bring rainboots and a flak jacket where you're going.**

 **Oh, and Hunter is doing most of the writing now- it's hard for me to find time to write. His writing style may seem more prominent now, for better or for worse. Also, OC submissions are always open- no end to the need of manpower.**

 **Thank you for reading, and I sincerely hope you enjoy.**


	6. Shit gets real?

**Episode 5 - Shit gets real**

Things were progressing nicely.

Arfoire thought that to herself as she held herself in one of her many hideouts in Gamindustri, away from both the law and the Monsters that populated the lands humanity didn't. They didn't dare come near the areas that she was in, for she was their undisputed superior, They could feel it in their guts.

It helped that she could attract monsters.

Every CPU had abilities that normal humans didn't possess. Their auras could cover their Nations to protect them from being attacked by monsters. They were quite literally monster repellants, according to mortals. However, thanks to those idiotic CPUs fighting for so many centuries in Celestia, their protective auras had weakened, allowing the Monsters to move in and retake what was once theirs.

The silver haired witch hummed in thought as she walked down a corridor, heading towards this hideout's library. She had a small library filled with books that no human would ever know of, books filed with ancient knowledge that had been long since lost. It was how she had learned much about Gamindustri's history without that pathetic tome's help, as well as why she had planned the way she did. Though it took a lot of work to get to this point, it was all worth it in the end.

Then, there came the Coalition.

It was a happy accident for her, she thought as she arrived at a large door, one which opened by itself to allow its rightful master inside. Arfoire hummed a pleasant tune she had heard one time while disguising herself as a Planeptune citizen as she stepped inside, the door closing behind her.

Helping those humans turned out to be a good idea. If they were to deal with the successors to those pathetic CPUs, the CPU Candidates, then she could focus her efforts on annihilating the real threat. It was like cornering an animal to cut off any escape routes, then chowing down on it as a prize. Oh, how sweet it will be to finally see her ambitions fulfilled at last.

Mortals they may be, but if they had a cause, then they would become something fiercer than any predator.

The Spec Ops Program was proof of this.

Her lips curled into a frown as she thought about that program. It wasn't something that should have happened, many who follow the CPUs thought over the centuries, but in that time it had grown into something that humanity desperately needed. That was an undeniable fact. It showed that humans had the tenacity to weather heavy storms created by their betters when necessary, something she felt a grudging respect for.

If they had that drive more often, then perhaps they'll go far in the new world order she would make.

' _For now, I'll simply play the role of Observer_.' The woman thought as she grabbed a book from one of the shelves, one that was titled 'DPU- past, present and future' before sitting on a nearby couch. She had some research to do on this new topic she had recently discovered. ' _Let's see what happens when humans take fate into their own two hands.'_

* * *

The air was thick with smoke.

Dust, debris and dirt fluttered to the ground like snow, the aftermath of an artillery barrage settling in on those who remained.

Two dozen men, battered and beaten. Their faces were caked with mud, skin cut, boots full of rocks and fingers trembling, not quite recovered from the pounding not five minutes earlier.

Planeptune, as it stood, was on it's last pair of crutches. Although the city had long since been evacuated, unlucky civilians trudged between cracks and old foxholes, homeless and depraved. They wouldn't realise they would be caught in the crossfire until it would be too late.

The male had to admit, this was a… vexing turn of events. Lid had not been kidding when she said she would be shelling him from a distance. If he interpreted her words correctly, then she was likely using some from of ranged artillery or mortars.

That was going to make it difficult to move through the city, and in the beginning his troops started out between building for cover, but it doesn't look like it was very effective.

According to what he had observed, his forces consisted of a set of squads in a Platoon. Several squads made a Platoon, so if he used a codename for a platoon and then a pair of numbers, it would be like Alpha One-Three' for Alpha platoon's third squad or 'Charlie Three-One' for Charlie's first squad.

It was a confusing system, Nico would openly admit that, however this was the way ranged warfare was done these days.

A voice broke him out of his train of thought.

"Romeo One Actual to Overlord, enemy broke contact and we need a sitrep, Romeo Two isn't responding to our hails and we're seeing smoke coming from their side of the bridge. Over."

Nico's right ear buzzed with activity, and for a moment he thought it was coming from inside the room. Remembering that he was immersed with both headphones and the VR on his head, he knew it was coming from someone in his unit.

The teen Spec Ops Agent looked over the area, his camera aligning with that of a bird's eye view. His forces, displayed as three blue rectangles, were spread out along a thin river running through the streets of Planeptune. One rectangle was titled Romeo, while the others were named Indigo and Lavender.

Oddly enough, Nico felt a strange sense of familiarity when he saw all this on the screen. He didn't quite understand why, it was both familiar and not familiar at the same time. Though considering what this reminded him of, Nico didn't feel that it was a good familiarity.

"All squadrons, report status." He commanded, wanting to know what it is he was working with. He also had to play it cool, he didn't want Lid to know that he was being pressured...

The area under his control appeared thin and disorganized, and as he zoomed in, he noticed that his soldiers were neither collected or in good positions, being spread out from each other along the water's edge.

"Uhhh…" Romeo One Actual spoke, his voice sputtering out for a moment before he kept talking. "Squadrons? Well… Romeo Platoon's taken casualties and we're down twelve men, should have around twenty four remaining. Walking wounded adds another seven, and we've got three guys out of action. I'm not sure about the status of Lavender and Indigo Platoons. As Platoon leader I'd advise you to look outside and take a look, can't you see Lavender from the field headquarters you're at? Over."

Nico furrowed his brow in confusion at his subordinate's words. What did he mean by that?

" _Hello hello? Nico, can you hear me? It's Theta, I'm talking into the simulation at my desk. Man, your physical body looks like it's in a trance right now. Still better than how I feel at the moment, no thanks to you, but anyways."_ Adding to his surprise, Theta's voice came through loud and clear, finishing with a laugh. " _Don't mind me, I'll be monitoring this thing as it goes down.. well, your guy told you to go looking outside, yeah?_ "

Theta paused, expecting an answer that Nico didn't know how to give. There was a talking feature to this? Didn't say that in the manual. Nevertheless, he did have something to say to the sadistically humorous man once he found the button.

"I'm surprised, you recovered sooner than I thought. Perhaps you have such a hard head that my strength didn't get the desired effect."

" _You've got a mean hand, sure, but you'll have to do better than that to kill me, kid. Anyways, down to business_. _There's a button in the bottom-left end of your screen, might look like a computer screen… press it._ "

The male mentally groaned at the man's voice. While slightly annoying, learning a function he hadn't seen in the manual wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Guiding the cursor over the button, Nico clicked on it.

All of a sudden, Nico's screen promptly faded to black, then to a chair. He sat at a desk in a poorly lit room, and to his left was a large hole in the wall. On his desk was a laptop, displaying the bird's eye view that he had been enjoying earlier. Nico turned his head to the left, and sure enough, his virtual persona turned as well. He looked outside, seeing the streets from a first person perspective.

After blinking, the true might of the virtual reality kicked in. He felt as if he really was there, right in the site of war torn Planeptune.

Down below, in the street, Nico noticed a handful of men jogging past. They held small arms- light machine guns, rifles and anti-tank weapons. When he looked up he spotted a handful of men taking up shelter on the roof of an apartment building, it's flat roof providing them with a convenient crow's nest.

" _I'll make this easy on you- That's Lavender Platoon's command squad. You wanna say hello?"_

Well, it would do some good to get some information on the battlefield from their perspective. Thus, Nico decided to do just that.

"Lavender Platoon, what's it looking like down there?" Nico asked, requesting a sitrep of their situation.

A woman without a helmet stood up, looking across the street from her position on the roof. "All quiet here! Jimmy here killed one of 'em APCs coming down the street, go give him a medal or something!" Flashing him a thumbs up, she shouted enthusiastically.

The teen gave a simple nod, those APCs could be a real problem for his troops if they were caught out in the open. They would be like fish in a barrel in that scenario.

Without any enhanced hearing and reduced to the body of a common man, Nico couldn't hear the roughhousing and teasing occurring across the street.

" _Okay… here's something interesting._ " Theta spoke as a matter of fact, his voice seemingly coming from Celestia. " _In this scenario, your command module is supposed to be controlled via satellite. There's a relay station somewhere to your west, and if it goes down, you lose that fancy computer thing, and it's down to maps and your radio. At that point, communication is important._ "

Theta took a breath, and Nico's eyes were drawn to the map of Planeptune atop his desk, beside a laptop. It displayed a map of the battle-torn Planeptune, and he could see the location of the relay station that Theta was talking about.

" _Last hint for now- Lid wants to kill that station. Now, I didn't have to tell you that, especially since you apparently want to kill me, but hey. Now you don't get to cry when your fun times go boom._ "

' _Maps and radios…_ ' Nico thought, eyeing the street that the station was placed on. From what he could tell, this station was designed to help him have a good tactical view of the desolate city from a bird's eye view. If it were to fall, then he would have to rely on… less than ideal means to win while Lid would still have the advantage.

"Overlord, Romeo One Actual, got eyes on infantry contact in the north at about 400 meters, our bearing 321. They're moving through the shopping district, and we can't get any good shots at them. Is that Romeo Two? We can't ID, and they're closing fast. What do we do, over?"

Nico weighed his options, coming to a conclusion. "Keep a visual on the unknowns. If they prove to be hostile, make sure to get a clear shot before taking them out. Use the buildings around the shopping district as cover, but make sure you know what they're using. If they have Weapons like RPG's get out onto the streets." Nico ordered.

"Wilco, we'll keep you posted. Romeo One Actual, out."

With that, the connection deactivated, and Nico began to think on what to do next. According to Theta, it seems that she wants to take out that Relay Station to limit my communication abilities. If she were to succeed, then it would put me in a difficult spot… or so she thinks.

Closing his eyes, Nico remembered one Mission he did as a Spec Ops Agent, one mission that felt eerily similar to this simulation battle. Back then, things had been much worse than this, and he had to worry about civilian casualties. Now though, he didn't have to worry about that at all, which freed up some possibilities.

Checking his supplies, Nico saw that they had explosive charges in reserve, as well as various items he recognised from his days fighting Abnormals, and an idea popped into his mind.

Now, how to make it work...

* * *

"Sunray, this is One-One Actual, last pocket of resistance has been mopped up just east of the riverbank. Should be a clear shot to their last line of defense, over."

Lid was satisfied with how much progress she started out with, a pleased hum escaping her lips. Of course, none of it was her doing, but it placed her in a key position to take initiative. And initiative always won wars.

"Copy." The Lastation General, within the simulation's command module, guided her camera through the air, towards the river. There were two bridges to get across, one in the middle and one on her left, towards the harbor. But to the right of the front line was a land crossing, and although she felt that would be the best avenue to get across, she didn't have numbers or surprise on her hands.

A quick checkup on her northern platoon told her that resistance was going to be stiff. She had jumped into the simulation as her unit was in contact, and they lost one of their armored vehicles to a rooftop stronghold, telling her that they must be dug in and ready for her.

The roads were narrow as well, forming perfect killing zones.

Maybe she'd have to soften that area up, make things easier on herself.

"Okay…" Lid muttered, bringing her camera over to her own command base. Her character was situated within a command truck, safely located inside a firebase.

The base was set up in a clearing in one of Planeptune's many parks, making it an ideal location to set up her artillery.

Her pleasure soon replaced itself with irritation and disgust as she recalled the image of her opponent's blank expression while he nearly killed Theta. Her lips twisted into a scowl at him, as her next words got laced with poison.

"Let's see how that brat likes some of this…" She spat, before switching on her radio. "Golf One-One, this is Sunray, fire mission, over."

"Golf One-One, send it, over."

"Sunray, fire mission, grid 235473, 70 mils, infantry lodged in urban cover. Second fire mission, walking barrage, grid 235490, 71 mils, space between frontline and Basilicom, over."

"Golf One-One, grid 235473, 70 mils, infantry in housing. Second, grid 235490, 71 mils, target terrain, over."

"Sunray, request 10 rounds HE. Second, request 20 rounds HE, over."

"Golf One-One, ten rounds HE, 20 rounds HE, over."

That first barrage would be the one to shatter Nico's front line. The second would be to cut them off, block them from retreat and reinforcements. A cruel move, especially when coupled with a ground attack.

That's all that she'll need to break their resolve.

* * *

"How's it looking over there, Romeo?" Nico questioned. He had ordered his Romeo Platoon to spare about 4 of their squad members to check the surrounding areas, most importantly the entrances to the city that lead to the other side of the riverbank. He wanted them to be silent, moving along the walls of buildings so they didn't catch attention from the enemy. He himself had been checking out the surroundings with Binoculars, spotting artillery on Lid's side of the battlefield.

He had noticed that the enemy received its supplies like ammunition and medical supplies from a supply route for helicopters. However, there wasn't much he could do without risking a confrontation with her infantry. Lid's station, he didn't know where it wasn't, but he would bet his pride as a Spec Ops Agent that it was near her Artillery. Though, this meant that his Platoon wouldn't be able to stage any attacks on her directly.

But who said it had to be THEM who did the attacking?

According to Theta, if it exists in the real world, then this simulation would have it as well. It worked with Planeptune, and they had the supplies. Thus, who said that they couldn't gain a bit of reinforcement from the outside?

"Overlord, we found the gates that you mentioned. They don't look like they've been used yet, no signs of enemy contact either. Looks like they're so focusing on whittling down our defensive lines that they've left themselves a 'back door' for us. We can't see much outside, but looks like we have a sizable infestation of Abnormal and normal Monsters. Odds are they were drawn to the smell of bloodshed. What do you want us to do, over?"

Nico closed his eyes, collecting his thoughts. What he had in mind, people likely wouldn't agree. His men would probably find it morally questionable, and even he himself had some reluctance to use this plan. However, there was something that he had learned that quashed those feelings of reluctance:

To fight a Monster, you need to be a monster yourself.

In a world where you have to fight to survive, you have to be absolutely ruthless, show no mercy to your enemy and do everything you can to live. That was something he had learned shortly into his Spec Ops career, and it showed. He had seen things few could ever dare to imagine, and because of that, he had gained a very…. Questionable skillset. A skillset he found himself all too willing to sick on Lid.

She called him a brat, huh? Thought she would win based off her skill as a General? Well then… let's see how she would react to this move, shall we?

"All units, attention." Nico began, and once he heard their confirmations, he began to speak once more, his voice flat and stern, yet with a hint of grim determination mixed in. "Do you all wish to avenge your comrades? Do you wish to see those who killed your friends, loved ones, and torched your city fall in the most brutal manner you can think of?"

At their respective posts, each member of Nico's Platoons looked at each other, momentarily confused on where their leader was going with this. Nevertheless, they all gave various forms of positive responses. They'd lost many of their friends and livelihoods in this battle, so it was natural that they want payback.

"Well then, my plan is as follows. I call it 'Operation: Monster Hunt'."

* * *

"Sunray, this is Whisky Six," Lid's headset cackled to life as her sole attack helicopter contacted her. "I've got movement by the northern gate, right on the edge of the city. My gunner can't identify them. Sunray, confirm that they're hostile, over."

The Lastation General sighed. Her soldiers shouldn't be all the way up there… that could only mean that those were Nico's men.

"Whisky Six, nobody's supposed to be up there at this time. You have weapons free on those guys, how copy? Over."

"Weapons free on infantry, Whisky Six copies. We're moving to engage, out."

At the same time, Lid heard the satisfying retort of "Splash, over!" coming from her artillery, indicating that the front line was five seconds from routing.

She smiled, satisfied.

"One One Alpha, this is Sunray, advance once the fire mission concludes." Lid switched frequencies, turning to her northern flank's platoon. "Sunray, One Two, One One is initiating attack, consolidate and assault, over."

Her goal was to break their will to fight, overwhelm Nico's abysmal leadership and take the Basilicom. Much like she would under Black Heart's orders, she would succeed. And at the least, she'd be wiping that sick grin off of that hooligan's face.

There was no way he could win.

Lid was sure of it.

* * *

Tremendous explosions detonated all across the line, sending shockwaves through the streets and blowing the walls off buildings, showering the world in concrete and glass.

On his end, Nico could see that the enemy Artillery was pounding away at their defensive lines. He'd been informed that his little scouting party had been noticed and hostiles were on the verge of closing in.

Fortunately, his plan didn't involve them engaging the enemy directly. The charges had already been set, as well as armed with remote control detonators, but they weren't meant to blow the gate up, Oh no, they were meant for something else.

The explosives weren't filled with anything harmful… just Pheromones tightly condensed. When they explode, monsters are drawn to it like moths to a flame.

If Lid or her forces saw what they were, they'd think they would be explosives and either detonate them from a distance, or ignore them.

That would prove to be their greatest error.

"This is Overlord, Status update?" he queried, speaking to his little four scouts.

"This is Romeo scout one! We got the charges planted, At the gates and down the streets. We've also fortified the Gates, too!" came the response.."Also sir, we just got a better visual of the Monsters outside, we've got a mix of Viperwolves, Thanators, Dogoos, Hammerheads and a whole load of ugly critters. Geez, this is going to be a bloodbath. You sure these things'll work?"

Nico nodded on his end of the frequency. "Indeed. I've seen them in action before, I know how they work. Make sure to find cover, and keep low so they don't see you. Then, you can watch the vengeance show unfold before your very eyes."

* * *

"Golf One One, rounds complete, out."

At hearing that transmission, it felt like her worries were washed away.

That was all Lid needed to hear.

"Alright…" Lid muttered, thinking to herself. "Things should work out without a hitch."

Whatever that hooligan had been planning, it sounded like it had been dealt with before the plan could even begin.

Hah.

Damn brat.

In the distance, the echoes of artillery shattered the eardrums of everyone nearby. Caught in the gunfire, the defenders fruitlessly ducked for cover, their fates dictated more by luck than preparation or defenses.

Behind their lines, shells collided with the pavement, fully obstructing all routes of escape for the time being. With the dust and debris so thick, it was impossible to tell what exactly was going on.

With their world shaking and breaking to bits around them, they had no idea that they were about to be fired upon.

Then.. she got a transmission from one of her squad leaders from the North. "Sunray, this is One Two, we…"

There was a message... but then there was static, and that drew Lid's attention. "Come in, One Two. What's your status?" she requested, however she was only met with silence.

Slowly, nervousness began to creep up her spine. What happened up north? Did their comms get damaged by something? Did the Squad Leader drop their radios by accident? She didn't know, and that nervousness impeded her judgement. She had to know what was going on over there.

She could look over there herself, but Lid knew that if none of her troops were present there, then she would only see a fog of war.

* * *

Comfortably at his Desk, Theta gazed upon the battlefield of the simulation, the two rivals neck and neck with one another. He could see both sides of the field as clear as day.

Lid seemed to be dominating the match, pushing through Nico's defensive lines. Her artillery hammered away at them while her ground forces pushed forwards. Nico put up little resistance, almost too little resistance. And that was what got him curious. It was at that point that Theta got curious about Nico's strategy.

He had seen that Nico had sent scouts to both the south and northern gates, both of which were close to Lid's base area. For what he wasn't sure of just yet, since he was only a spectator, but there was something going on there that seemed quite essential to Nico's plan.

On his radar, Theta noticed something outside the Planeptune city walls, walls meant to keep the fighting inside the city… as well as any unwanted visitors out in times of crisis.

When he noticed that there was a sizable amount of Abnormal monsters gathering at both of the gates, his still-aching mind clicked, and the pieces fit together in his mind.

Lack of resistance to the pushes.

Expedition to the gates

Troops hiding from the enemy.

Unusual movement from outside the Gates.

He had to hand it to the kid, he knew how to maximise the environment to his advantage… although this strategy was risky, he seemed to be prepared for the risks.

A worried smile soon spread over the older man's face. Maybe Lid would be the one to learn humility today.

* * *

It happened without warning.

Loud shrieks, howls, and cries of pain could be heard both from the north and to the south. Inhuman noises soon replaced them, filling Lid's headphones with utter dread and horror. Whatever was happening, she needed to know what it was and PRONTO. She knew the northern gates and the southern Gates were close to her Base, and if those sounds were anything…

"Sunray, Whisky Six, what's going on?!" Lid shouted, trying to mask the panic in her voice lest she dampen the men's morale.

"Uhh… We've got monsters coming into the city." The attack helicopter's pilot announced plainly. "Coming from north and south, they're just filling up all the streets…"

"Okay." Lid snapped, racking her brain. Was _this_ what Nico was up to? _Okay… Okay…_

"Start blowing up the buildings," The General started, speaking rapidly and aggressively. "Do whatever you can to direct the flow of them out of our way."

"Target structures, cop- RPG launch, four o'clock!"

The sounds of a struggle filled Lid's helpless ears, and she winced at the feeling.

A loud boom echoed from the outside, and the channel was reduced to static. Lid's eyes widened in shock when she saw that the signal transmitted by her Helicopter vanish. "What?!"

"Whisky Six, what just happened?!"

"RPG tried taking a shot at us… we're fine. Engaging buildings, copy."

Okay, that's one crisis averted. Lid swiped at her forehead, eased that at least one thing was going her way.

Or so she thought.

Sounds of wild, murderous roaring got Lid's attention as she decided to look herself. Promptly moving herself into the virtual space, Lid snagged a pair of binoculars.

She used her binoculars to look to the streets from the North and south. Ahead, she could see clouds of pink smoke, steadily rising through the atmosphere. Her lips curled upwards into a frown. What was Nico up to? What was his plan for the Monsters? She had thought that he was trying to divert her attention from his own forces, but…

"OH FUCK-OH FUCK-OH FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"

A loud, shrill cry from her Communication channel almost made her deaf. Luckily this wasn't her actual ears that were ringing, but the simulation made things VERY realistic.

"What the fuck is going on?! Report in, goddamnit!" Lid yelled into the mouth piece section of her head set.

"Th-The monsters! The Abnormals-they're making a Beeline straight fucking for us! They're going on a rampage!"

Before the frantic reply could finish, the sound of a Monster roar could be heard through the connection, and then came a barrage of gunfire and explosions.

The General looked out with her Binoculars again, and this time she saw a completely different sight. A horde of Abnormal Monsters, lead by these large six-legged rhino-looking abominations, were plowing through the destroyed Buildings, making way for the other Monsters to follow suit.

Thanators pounced over rubble, hissing and roaring like demented psychopaths. Packs of Viperwolves expertly navigated the ruined streets as they made a beeline for her troops. Hammerheads would lead the charge, soaking up the damaged with their bone armour.

In her eyes, it looked more like a tide of death…

And her men were straight in the crossfire.

The moment they were in firing range, what could only be described as a Bullet Hell was unleashed upon them. Barely did any good though, because the Hammerheads managed to tank most of the damage while letting the rest of their monster brethren get in close. Viperwolves, being the smallest and fastest, got to the enemy first, pouncing on screaming soldiers before proceeding to tear their necks out.

Thanators would charged at the APC's while helping the Viperwolves chow on their meals, tearing limbs off, ripping through organs with their fangs and claws. The ones that targeted APCs would tackle them from the front or the sides, capsizing them for the Hammerheads to stomp on them.

If that wasn't enough, warning alarms blared in Lid's ears, drawing her attention to the southern gates to see more Monsters coming at them, just as hungry for blood as the ones from the north. It was safe to assume she was basically being beset from all directions.

Another horrifying truth registered within her mind, and that was that her once secure stronghold, had been turned into a cage. A cage that threatened to box her in and crush her without mercy.

Just like when Nico nearly crushed Theta this morning.

"We won't last for long out in the open like this, and our APCs are going to get plowed by those charging assholes. Get me some box artillery, do it now!"

Hastily, and feeling slightly overwhelmed, she switched frequencies. Calling for a boxed artillery strike on each platoon's approximate location, she hoped to limit the losses as much as possible.

"Sunray, Whisky Six," Lid switched frequencies another time, this time to the helicopter. "Cancel the last order, fuckin' take out the enemy satellite comms station at grid to follow, over!"

"Copy your last, breaking off and engaging. Ready to copy grid, over."

The Lastation General quickly listed off a string of coordinates, knowing full well that Nico's anti-air sphere would be completely capable of knocking out her sole air asset. At least that asshole would be left without his command screen.

If only she knew where he was… then she would most certainly knock him out.

* * *

Alright… so far so good.

Nico hummed to himself as he monitored the movements of the Monsters, guided by what some of his troops called the 'Pheromone Bombs' towards Lid's forces. Unlike her, who had specialised in fighting normal monsters and human opponents, Nico had experience with Monsters unlike any she had faced before. There was a big reason why Abnormal Monsters almost wiped humanity off the face of Gamindustri.

She was going to taste that fact first hand.

Now, he knew she would target his Satellite station, Theta stated so, and despite his personality Nico didn't necessarily dislike him. She likely wouldn't use her sole air asset thanks to his anti air capabilities, she wouldn't risk it. However, that didn't mean she wouldn't use other means.

He had been hearing cries of exhilaration from his troops over the radio frequencies, cries of "oh fuck the hell yes!" mixed with "Can't believe this crazy stunt actually worked!" and "Hah, taste that, fuckers!" rang throughout, nearly making a smirk from on his lips. His troops morale, which had been shot throughout the battle, was rising faster than a tap filling a glass with water.

They had started off weak, but like a cornered animal, they struck with increased ferocity.

But let it not be said that Nico wasn't paranoid, and that fact was soon proven when he heard a frequency establish itself. One of his Platoons was trying to contact him, so he answered. "This is Overlord, send it."

"Overlord, Romeo One, we got a Helicopter making a beeline through our lines, they ain't coming to kill us- what's going on?" Came the voice of one of his Squad Leaders.

Wait, a Helicopter? Why would there be… Nico's eyes widened when a thought struck him. Theta said she wanted to destroy his Station, and given its trajectory from the west… there was only one place that it could go to have any real danger. The satellite Station. Nico knew this as he had fought while memorising the map of the city.

His eyes narrowed at that revelation. So she was going to use her Helicopter asset? Why not her Artillery? Surely she knew that they would have a greater use in this situation than her sole air asset. He didn't have any air assets of his own, his were knocked out during the earlier stages of combat.

However, Nico also rationalised that thanks to his little Monster Hunt, Lid may be thinking irrationally. That was the most likely assumption. If she means to send her Helicopter at his Satellite station, Nico had to capitalise on that opportunity.

He had to, if he didn't want to resort to drawing maps and radios.

Plus, he always said monsters are needed to destroy other monsters. Nico wouldn't be backing out now. Time to utterly shatter her composure then finish her off. He had been preparing for one last assault on her base once the Monsters damaged most of it. The buildings would be used as Cover for his infantry while the IFV's would take out any armoured targets.

He would crush Lid, show no mercy.

He would search and destroy, search and destroy.

"This is an order: Any RPG's, shoot that thing down before it destroys the Satellite station." Adam spoke, his tone as cold as Ice, matching the stare he had on his features. "We made her act careless. Time to capitalise on it."

"Copy that!"

* * *

The skies above Planeptune shook the sides of Whisky Six as they made their desperate advance towards the installation. In the distance they could see it: a large radio tower extending high into the sky.

It would only take half a dozen rockets to disable it, and luckily for them, they had much more to spare.

"Hey, gunner, we're 400 meters out… think you can hit that from here?" The pilot spoke, a hint of worry plaguing his voice.

Things had gone to shit real fast, it didn't take a genius to see that. Their General had been shaken, brutally so, by the invasion of the Abnormals. She hadn't expected the enemy to lure them in and sick the Monsters on them like a bunch of rabid dogs. It was an unorthodox strategy, but one that provided excellent results for the enemy.

This felt like a last-ditch effort, to him at least.

"Yeah, I can." The gunner replied, eyeing the targeting screen in front of him. "Keep us steady."

This was it, they thought. Their last ditch effort to turn this shit back around.

After a moment the nose of the helicopter swung upwards, allowing the vehicle to slow down.

"Good, good, keep us like this. I'm firing rockets, HE."

"I hear you." The pilot said, warily keeping his eyes on the ground below. "Fire at will."

With the signal given, the gunner pressed down on the trigger. A salvo of a dozen rockets flung out of their pods, streaking towards their target like arrows.

The explosives hit their mark, detonating with fire and sound. The area was washed in smoke and debris as the tower creaked, finally giving in to poor spending of taxes and bad maintenance and management by the city's government.

"Alright, relay back to command that we're good." The gunner started, before something got his attention. Arching his head over to the left, he made another call before the pilot could do anything. "Hold up, hold up…"

"What is it?" The pilot demanded, getting antsy to move. He already had his arm on the stick, pressing forwards ever so slightly.

"Check the buildings to the left, just saw movement. Could be a firebase, or some holdout?"

"Alright. You've got ten seconds to tell me what you want, then we're bugging the fuck out of here."

"What I'm saying is that might be a target of opportunity. Get us out of here and I'll give the coordinates to command."

The Pilot nodded his head in response, before beginning to swerve the Helicopter into the air once more. However, just as they did that, their alarms began to beep like they were going haywire.

"What? What the-?"

The two men had no time to react as 2 RPG's fired simultaneously collided with the Helicopter's rear armour. The armour at the Tail was weaker than the front, so it took more damage and sent the aircraft spiralling down to the ground below. They couldn't even get a distress signal out in time before the aircraft crashed and exploded.

Poor day to be Lid, a slight victory for her but she didn't even know it.

* * *

Nico's blank expression showed nothing of the slight frustration in him at the loss of his Station. His troops hadn't been able to shoot it down in time, so the Station went boom. However, the male took solace in the fact that he had managed to take out Lid's sole aircraft asset. Now they didn't have to worry about any air support for his troops.

Fortunately for him, he had memorised the city's layout on his side of the Map. That meant he knew where his troops were and what to do next. He planned to hold up a defensive line for now, a last stand type of plan. Now that the Monsters had attacked the enemy, there was a likelihood that the Monsters would destroy the Artillery that Lid had set up.

It was all a game of chance at this point.

* * *

Lid had one last breakthrough in her chaotic situation.

Before her aircraft was destroyed, it had relayed to her the Coordinates for Nico's Base to her. Why she had ordered that move was something she didn't know, it was stupid and she paid for it. Nevertheless, now was the last chance she had. All her cards had been dealt with. Al she could do was bet on one last attack, one last chance to win. Now all she needed to do was to put in an order for the Artillery to shell the place and she would win the simulation.

But she had to act fast, the Abnormals would overwhelm her soon. Her defences were unable to hold them for any longer thanks to the Hammerheads tanking most of the bullets, while the Viperwolves and Thanators had ripped her Infantry to shreds.

With an urgency that she had never displayed before, Lid quickly began relaying orders through her headset. "Archill-artlry-Artillery!" Lid snapped, her face flushed from both embarrassment and her habit of misspelling her words just now, buying the enemy a few precious seconds to close in. The Abnormals were already practically in the park that her Artillery was in, not long before the Artillery would be shredded.

"Artillery, fire mission, grid 235478! Do it now, do it now!" she yelled, quickly inputting the coordinates. Only problem was that her verbal tick, the misspelling, and her panicked mind, caused her to lose too much valuable time. Time that the Monsters used to jump the Artillery just as they were making to fire.

One round was fired.

Then the Hammerheads smashed into them, the Thanators ripped them out of the ground from the base, and the Viperwolves tore away at the barrels.

It was over, Nico had won.

...Until he heard a sort of funny whizzing.

* * *

"Great game everyone! Now, who wins the chocolate bar?"

Theta pranced around in a merry manner, now fully recovered from Nico's early offense against him, chuckling while smacking each of the two participants in the back.

With a white bandage wrapped around his head, he smiled at both the General and the newcomer.

Lid and Nico, both groggy and irritated from being cooped inside VR for so long, struggled to remove their respective headsets.

"Wow, you both managed to get dead! So who wins?

Theta stood with one hand on his hip and the other in the air, dangling a name-brand chocolate bar in the air. Squinting, Lid groaned.

"Any takers?" Theta said again with an exaggerated grin.

"It was a Draw." Nico finally stated after regaining his composure. "Lid had me on the ropes, she did. I will admit that. My monster plan evened the playing field, however if I had acted on it sooner, then things would have been different. If Lid had more experience with Abnormals she could have prevented the strategy from working as well as it did. In the end, both attacks hit their mark, resulting in a draw."

At the end of the battle, both her guns and his base had been destroyed. The artillery was shredded to pieces by the Monsters, while that one shell it had launched hit his base. It happened at practically the same time, leading him to realise that it was a draw.

Neither won.

Neither Lost.

That simple.

"Nope! Not a draw!" This drew Nico and Lid's attention back to the older man. Theta grinned as he pointed to himself with his free hand. "I won, you guys! I won, because you all _fucking_ died and I lived. So, that makes me the clear winner- I won." Theta smirked. "Therefore, I get the chocolate bar."

The man vigorously unwrapped the bar and stuffed the wrapper into his pocket, drinking in the dumbfounded expressions Lid sent him, while Nico just seemed tenser than normal. Sheesh, talk about emotionally detached. After taking a large bite, he spoke with his mouth full.

"Yuo shee, the onhly way to ruely win is to noht fight." He swallowed. "Now that you both died, no one sees tomorrow, and no one wins. Except for the person who doesn't fight, AKA me."

He took another bite, letting himself fall onto the couch.

"Who knows. Maybe that's a tip you could use to your advantage. Or not, apparently, as I've given this lesson to Lid already, and she still hasn't figured it out."

Theta gave a mock-glare at Lid, who just shrugged.

On Nico's end, he was thinking more about the Match. It wasn't difficult to figure out the result, though that wasn't to say he was satisfied with the result. He would only have been satisfied if he had utterly crushed her with no mercy. That was his goal, and he had only partially achieved that with his strategy. In addition, he didn't like how the game had turned to chance at the last stretch of the Match.

He could only take solace in the fact that she didn't win like she thought she would.

Honestly, he took a LOT of solace in that.

"Yeah. Nico, good thinking. I probably wouldn't have thought of that myself, which means something, but it also shows that you're willing to have people die, which is something I disagree with. Lid," Theta shifted himself, kicking his feet onto the cushions. "There wasn't anything you could've done, really. But you did good to try and minimize whatever losses that would ensue, which was also good. But you let your emotions get the better of you, allowing Nico to gain the upper hand."

Both worn participants frowned as they took in the man's words, creating an air of consideration around them.

In the end, Theta made good points, both reluctantly admitted. Lid did do good by trying to minimize casualties, something that people liked in a Leader. They also liked a Leader that could think outside the box to pull out solutions that nobody would have thought about. That was what Nico had done with the Pheromone Bombs, and the Abnormals, something no standard militia could take down so easily.

"Now…" Theta licked his fingers, swinging his legs back down to the floor. "We're about to get attacked for realsies."

 _Wait… what?_

Lid did a double take, jerking her head back in a sudden burst of confusion.

"It's going to be really fun." Theta nodded serenely. "I'm kidding, by the way."

' _You'd think we'd be used to his antics by now…'_ Nico thought, rolling his eyes.

The man got up, flicking Lid in the forehead as he did so.

"You go and meet up with the boys in 1st Platoon. They're at the barracks, along with the guys assembled so far in the CAW. Recce's in the field, they say we've got some time." He told her. "Yeah? Now shoo, I'll keep in contact."

"... Yes Sir."

Lid nodded sternly, standing up from her seat. She then pivoted on her heels before heading to the exit. Before she could go up the stairs she aimed one last glare at Nico, who ignored it, before she passed up the stairs, leaving behind nothing but the faint scent of pancakes.

Now that the two of them were alone, Nico and Theta began to converse as well. "Now, your task is to head to the barracks. I've put the directions to it into your Bracer while you were playing monster." Theta told him, gesturing to his right Bracer which indeed had a message Icon on it.

"What you said just now... " Nico began, getting Theta's attention as he stepped away to toss out his wrapper.

"What about it?"

"Reminds me… it reminds me of something I heard a while back, from someone I fought with." Nico explained, and to Theta's surprise, there was emotion behind his gaze this time. This time, there was sadness in those light blue orbs, sadness that looked like it had been repressed for a long time.

Emotion, something Theta knew Nico was reluctant to share.

"Oh year? Where?" he asked.

"Racoon city."

If he had a cup of coffee, Theta would have spat it out in surprise when he heard that name. "Racoon City?" Theta smirked, then pulled his face back to an understanding frown. "I remember that. Stupid zombie shit... so you were there?"

"More than was there, I was the one who shut down Umbrella." Nico responded, opening some footage of the Outbreak he'd recorded on his Bracer. "This battle, it was similar to back then. In both feeling and intensity. That probably contributed to how I acted, as back then I would try to have monsters fight the other monsters, the BOWs killing the infected instead of me and those under me. Back then, though, I…" the Spec Ops Agent gave a low, yet audible sigh. "Didn't have the best leader, in the world."

Theta remained silent as he heard Nico explain this. Looked like there was more to the kid than meets the eye. Of course, that much was apparent, but some things were learned more easy than others.

"Did he live?"

Nico shook his head, faint lines appearing around his mouth to show he was clenching his teeth. "Damn infected ripped him apart. He died saving the rest of us." He answered. "Died so we could live. His sacrifice was one of many, but we got out of there alive. Though, you could say I was… a bit pissed at the end."

He groaned, holding his face in one hand. "I went back in there, discovered the truth and waged a one-man war against Umbrella. I broke into their research facilities, abandoned thanks to the Outbreak, stole evidence of their crimes from them, and when the time came, I exposed them for what they were. I'm pretty sure you know what happens next."

"Yeah, real nasty stuff." Theta admitted with a grimace. "And hey. You don't have to prove anything to me. Your past can stay in the past. Now we're here with our experiences, and sure they shape us, but they don't have to haunt you."

Although Theta felt obliged to empathize with Nico, the younger one's enthusiasm to capitalize on such a tragic event felt wrong to him. Sure, it's one thing to go through a traumatic experience, but it's a whole nother thing to bring it up with as much footage as Nico was. Felt like he was trying to brag, make himself seem pitiful and in need of a hug. Almost emphasized edginess, if that could be considered proper grammar.

Theta hated that, but he kept his mouth shut.

"I guess…" The Spec Ops Agent sighed.

Deciding that it was time for him to head out, Nico stood from his seat, opened his Message on his Bracer and memorised the directions to the Barracks. "Anyways, he said that as long as somebody lives to see the dawn, then that is the real victory. Also taught me that one has to shed blood, sweat and tears if they want to make it to that dawn."

Theta silently scoffed.

"I'll help you get to the Barracks. It'd be faster if I guided you there, since they'll ask you who you are and all that other formal crap." Both men grimaced at the thought.

That didn't sound too positive, and it wasn't.

With the thought of impending combat in the air, Theta and Nico then left for the Barracks.

* * *

Getting lost was probably the worst thing that happened to her today.

Aaliyah, after weathering that storm, had finally made it to Easton Point. However, the town was nearly deserted, so she couldn't ask anyone any questions about what they thought of the Coalition. She was cold, wet, and pissed at those bastards for what they did to her. How dare they do this to an unarmed civilian!

Just her luck.

And they said they cared about humanity. Ha, not from what she'd seen.

Holding her arms, the reporter could only trudge on, hoping that things wouldn't get any worse for her or for this town.

She shouldn't have jinxed herself.


	7. Beginning of it all

Walking with Theta to the Barracks, following behind the man, Nico pocketed his hands inside his Trench Coat. His head hung low, his face blank. In contrast however, his thoughts were glued to what happened before, and now that he thought about it, Nico couldn't help but feel… strange, about it.

Why did he really open up to Theta about that Outbreak? Why did he tell him something so voluntarily about his past? Or, at least a little bit of it anyways. The thoughts had been bugging him since this walk began, and honestly he couldn't take his mind off it no matter how hard he tried. It was really annoying.

For one, he hadn't talked to anyone about his past like this, or at least informed someone of his past so emotionally. Why did he change now? Thinking back on it, Nico grimaced at his actions. It wasn't that he regretted the decision, far from it, it actually felt good to talk to someone about it. Better than he had expected really.

However, perhaps he could have worded it better. He felt that he sounded like a pitiful, edgy dog that needed a pickup. That was NOT what he wanted to convey there, and he feared that Theta got the wrong impression. What he had been trying to do was convey a point.

That point being that he could sort of see what Theta was trying to say, but not completely. That life is important and once you're dead, that's it. It's all over. At least, that's what he thought anyways. He could be wrong, though, but he wanted to believe he was on the right track.

That man he couldn't save back then… he didn't know the guy personally. He hadn't met him in his life, and he was a practical stranger to him. And yet, he had been one of the focal points for Nico's one man war against Umbrella. There had been only one reason for this, one reason…

He had a family.

A lot of deaths had hit families hard. Wives, husbands, the loved ones of all those that died were grieving for their loss. But what made this man's family, a wife and two daughters, stand out was that he had the chance to save him, to bring him back to them.

The other families, he had no power to even try to save them. They were too far gone for him to do anything. But this man, this man he could have saved, but he hadn't reacted in time. Perhaps, if he had, then maybe that family wouldn't have had to suffer.

It hadn't been long since that ended.

Nico frowned when he remembered how he used that footage, how he showed it to Theta in a cringy and edgy manner. Ugh, that probably could have been done better, he had wanted to use that footage to show Theta his point better, that he was sort of getting what he was trying to say, and would not stop until he figured it out.

When Nico wanted to do something, he would not stop till it was done. He was a worker that way.

' _No matter, I still have one thing to do with him before we get started on whatever it is he wants of me…'_ He thought. "Hey, Theta."

"Hm?" The man looked behind him to see Nico gazing rather sharply at him. He stopped right as they neared the exit to the shop, tucking his thumbs in his pockets. "I know I'm hot, but I don't swing that way. I, for one, like chicks."

The midday glow streaked inside the shop, piercing Nico's eyes like daggers. He squinted as Theta placed his back to the door.

But he ignored that. Instead, Nico rolled his eyes at the man's usual teasing, and continued his train of thought… just improvised a little. "While I do not doubt you like your ladies, probably lolis considering you're a Loweean…" He began, muttering his last line. "I wanted to say something."

"Hey, no stereotyping here." Theta sternly started. His eyes contrasted his smile. "But yeah. Go ahead, you've got my attention."

"I want to apologise for that wound on your head," Nico told him. "It was an instinctual reaction. No stereotyping for you either. Basically assassins and betrayal, common, I had to be ready for both." What he didn't say was that he had been close to doing… something else that involved a lot more blood and a lot more gore.

Silly bastard didn't even realise the bullet he'd dodged before.

"Huh? Oh, this little thing?" Theta questioned, hiding his surprise as he gestured to the bandages around his head. He hid it well, but the man could see that there was a hidden regret in his eyes. Once again, the kid was hiding his feelings, but still expressing them in a weird way. Not to mention, Nico's unsightly Explanation Apology didn't help.

Kid probably wasn't used to apologising either.

"Well, it's no biggie, I can handle a little pain. Do me a favour though, please target anything but my beautiful face next time." He gave a crooked grin, eyes dancing with mischief. "Sets a bad example for the men."

"No promises." Nico replied, his blank facade returning to full power, prompting an end of discussion. The older man turned towards the door, hiding the small frown threatening to emerge from his lips. Kid needed to loosen up around here, not long before the fun ends and all.

Their journey continued alongside the jingling bell over the door.

* * *

They were near the Barracks, Nico assumed according to the directions, when things changed… for the worse.

"Shit…"

Nico raised a brow when he heard Theta utter a curse. They had been silent on this journey so far, so what seemed to be the issue now? He looked up, wondering what the hell was going on. "What's wrong? Something happen?" he asked the man.

"Yeah… well, uh," The mechanic awkwardly began, staring at his cell phone intently. "Just got a text, things are speeding up."

The teenage Spec Ops frowned as he heard this. That didn't sound good, and judging by the look on Theta's face, he knew this too. Looking up from his phone, the man turned his gaze to him and held up a single index finger.

"Rule number one of my made up rulebook. Never underestimate your enemy, but never overestimate him either. You know what? Never do anything, for that matter. That'd make things easier, wouldn't it?"

He tucked his phone into his back pocket, breaking into a jog. Nico sprinted after him, easily keeping up with the taller man's strides. As they turned a corner, Theta pointed at a building down the street.

It looked to be a rectangular apartment building, covered in the usual Loweean snow, but the billboard above the door read " _Easton Sleeps! Hotel and Spa._ "

"That's the barracks," He kept talking in between breaths. "Not everyone is here, especially on such short notice, but whatever." Nico wordlessly nodded. Judging by the urgency in his voice and the fact that he was talking about soldiers, the teen assumed something to do with combat was going to happen.

They slowed down, reaching the front door.

Placing one hand on the handle, Theta pushed. A wave of warm air streamed outside, washing over the two individuals as they entered.

It seemed like a standard hotel, with nothing out of the ordinary. The reception area was plainly decorated, the natural lighting making the place feel cozy and inviting. The front desk was manned by a middle-aged man in an apron. He was being interrogated by a brown-haired individual, and it didn't look like he was enjoying any of it.

It looked like the girl was trying to get something from the man, who was looking more and more annoyed by the second, Nico noticed, when he shifted his gaze towards his companion who began striding forwards. Thus, he followed suit behind him.

"Hey…" Theta started, approaching the reception. "This girl giving you trouble?"

The man, noticing the two join the conversation, sighed while rubbing his short and ragged beard. "Aye." he replied, the girl looking in their direction also.

"So…" The mechanic continued. He then gestured to the two of them with a wave of his hand. "What's going on here?"

The girl pouted, feeling ignored. "Hey! I exist, you know! Are you the manager or something?" She snapped at Theta.

"Maybe." He shrugged in response, causing the girl to furrow her brows.

"Well, your associate here is giving me terrible service." She squinted at his name tag. "I'll be suing you, Ages! There's no way all the rooms could be booked in such a stupid little town!"

"You do realise that the customer has to respect the employees too, right? Not give them grief." Nico stated, hands twitching in his pockets. He wondered what would happen if he deployed his armour and held a plasma claw to her neck. Would that shut her up?

However, Theta might not take too kindly to that. Plus, he kinda felt on fragile ground enough with him as it was, so he remained quiet.

"Hold on a second…" Theta raised his hands, smirking. "Now, miss-"

"Aaliyah. Aaliyah Luckless." She stated firmly, hands on her hips in a haughty manner.

"Lia…" He continued condescendingly. He gestured to the guy at the reception while he responded. "He said the rooms are booked. So that means the rooms are booked."

She growled to herself, pushing up her glasses. "You're kidding me…" He was definitely lying to her, deep down she knew he had to be.

Before things could go any further, the last person among them cut into the conversation like a knife through butter.

"Hold up!" Nico suddenly spoke again, getting their attention.

"What is it?" Theta questioned, glancing towards him.

Nico glanced over to the older men, his expression blank but there was a hint of exasperation in their eyes, "Don't tell me neither of you two noticed."

Upon getting their confused stares, while the girl's was irritated, Nico sighed. The Spec Ops Agent glanced the girl up and down, before beginning to speak. "You have travelled far, haven't you? At least over 20 miles. By foot I believe, your clothes are drenched with Snow, some of it still clings to you right now." Nico observed, gesturing to the girl's damp clothing. His eyes hardened, suspicion laced within his words, as well as confusion. "Normal people would have traveled through Lowee weather in a vehicle, but you look like you've been out there without one."

"What's it to you?" The girl remarked, scowling in Nico's direction.

"What I mean is that you must have gone through something if you risked going through Lowee wearing nothing but that sweater. Your heart rate is irregular, your breathing is shallow and your cheeks are unnaturally flushed. Also, I smell a faint hint of soot on your person, so I'm assuming it was a dangerous situation."

The girl flinched at the mention of 'dangerous situation'. Nico, Theta and the man caught onto it.

"Those are oddly specific observations." Ages, the man behind the table, noted. He eyed the boy for a brief instance, before turning to the girl with an increasingly suspicious gleam in his eyes. "But yes, yes you are kinda screwed over."

"Well at least someone has eyes!" Aaliyah snarled, but not out of anger, Nico noticed. It was more on the lines of frustration and relief, relief that someone had noticed her state. She crossed her arms and stared at the man behind the counter. "So does that mean I get a room?"

"No." The receptionist said blankly. His one eye blinked, and it looked like he was chewing gum. The other eye, hidden from sight with an eyepatch, made the blank phrase seem intimidating.

But to the receiver, it was a different story altogether. "Grrrrrr…" The girl frowned, unwilling to go back into the cold.

Combined with Nico's… unusual observations about her dress and his own guilt at not noticing it sooner, Theta placed a hand on the countertop while smiling at Ages.

"C'mon. One night, and then we'll go from there." He spoke, his tone a bit heavier than before.

Ages squinted, shifting his face this way and that. He was thinking, but he already had an answer.

"Sure." He said without emotion, pulling a key out from under the desk. "This one is to room 209, it's upstairs. Make sure you don't get shot on the way up."

Once the key was safely in Lia's palm, Ages turned around, pulling off his apron with a sigh. He stuck it on a coat hanger then kept walking. A dagger was tucked behind him, in his belt. Ages d'Thesda had bigger fish to fry than little lolis.

"Hey! Come back! What do you mean, shot!?" Aaliyah waved a hand, hoping for a reply. Once Ages left the room, she sighed. "Damn."

The girl picked up the key, uneased by the sole staff member's abrupt departure.

Theta heartily chuckled, standing upright. "He's letting us take you up there. After all, we're heading that way too." The man stepped to the left, towards a staircase. "So yeah, come on."

Aaliyah Luckless frowned, but inched towards the staircase. Theta was in the lead, confidently allowing the others to catch up. She moved first while Nico followed behind her. He glanced at her back occasionally, but discreetly. He didn't like what state she was in, it set off alarm bells in his head, but he didn't say anything.

"Hey. Hey." She started, climbing up the stairs while the man walked on upwards. "What do you mean, shot? Is this place dangerous?" She kept questioning him, a rising sense of panic filling her voice.

The pieces were coming together, and Aaliyah didn't feel safe at all. Did the Coalition get here before her? Were these guys leading her to her death? Was White Heart waiting up above, ready to smash her head in?

"Nope." Theta said meekly as they reached the top and looked down. "This is the safest place around." he told her.

Once they were at the top, they looked down the corridor ahead of them. The corridors were tight, allowing only two people to walk side-by-side before it got too cramped. The halls up here didn't feel as homey due to a lack of windows, and for some reason, crates, boxes and nets were stacked beside doors. ' _This place must be inhabited by a band of homeless lunatics_.' she thought.

After walking for a few minutes, Theta stopped in front of a door, leaning on the wall. His legs were outstretched in such a way that it was obvious that he was blocking the hall.

"Nice nice. Here we are. You go in, you contemplate life and wonder what to do next. And we keep going. Yes yes?" The mechanic spoke while he grinned, words laced with sarcasm.

Aaliyah blinked, feeling like a cornered rabbit. "Hey! You better tell me what's going on here. This is no Hotel and Spa, isn't it?"

' _Girl has good instincts…'_ Nico noted in his mind, eyeing her state while keeping his senses open. ' _Perhaps my theory on her is right after all…'_

Theta stopped smiling in a split second, as if a switch were flipped in his head as he regarded the girl before him. In a few agonizingly slow moments, the two stared each other down... until the man broke the contest first.

He gave a low groan while holding a hand over his temple. "Fucking hell," He sighed, lowering his arms. "Took you long enough." The way he said that was sort of condescending, like before at the reception desk.

She ignored that, though, opting for another question. "So, what is it?" The girl investigated, slowly smiling as her reporter side took hold.

That side soon got quashed, along with her smile, with Theta's next response. "I don't need to tell you." He teased, backing up. "You're free to do whatever you want." He finished, flashing her his teeth.

' _Ugh, this guy…'_ Nico thought with a mental groan. ' _If this is how he treats females, then no wonder he hasn't got a girlfriend...'_

Unaware of his thoughts, Theta looked to his other companion, his stance more aloof now compared to earlier. "C'mon Nico," Theta raised a finger to the ceiling, yawning. "Destiny awaits."

Nico nodded, wordlessly following the man to where he was wanting them to go.

* * *

While the two men walked, Nico glanced discreetly behind him, noticing that Aaliyah was silently trailing behind them. There was a sense of purpose in her eyes, as if something was driving her. Add in the fact that she had foregone any rest from her ordeal meant that this purpose still burned brightly within her. Looked like she stuck true to her ideals, whatever they were. Nico could respect that in a person.

"Right…" Theta muttered, counting off room numbers as they walked. "These rooms are being used for storage. Lid should be down this way…"

They turned a corner to their right, stepping into a wider hallway. This place had lights lining the walls, and the windows on the right overlooked a part of the roof.

Sure enough, Lid was standing with her backs to the newcomers as Theta snuck closer to the Lastation General. She was occupied with giving a speech to a band of ragged men lining the hall. They all held rifles, wore helmets and vests, and lined their faces with a grey face paint.

They didn't wear the standard uniforms of any country. No solid white of Lowee, no solid black of Lastation. It was a sort of white camouflage, one that resembled dirty snow.

"And this is why," Lid spoke crisp and clear, her voice trailing down to the other end of the hall. Ages D'thesda, the receptionist from earlier, could be seen with his dagger in his jaw. "This is why a complete moron will be entrusted with keeping your lives safe. Not something that-"

Theta jabbed his fingers into Lid's sides, right under her arms.

Jerking forwards, Lid, screamed in surprise and drew a knife from her boot. She spun and faced the mechanic in a battle stance, panting heavily.

"Not something that Lid needs to concern you about." Theta finished Lid's sentence, stepping forwards and into the full frontal view of a dozen laughing men and women. He turned to Lid, whose face was flushed red.

"Your unit is downstairs." He said, nonchalant.

"Yes…" The General frowned, guilty.

"So why you be giving Bravo a speech?"

Lid blinked, frozen in time. Honestly, Nico couldn't help but imagine her as a deer caught in a headlight, and thus had to repress the urge to snicker. It was unprofessional, and right now he was surrounded by total strangers. Non-professionalism was the LEAST advantageous thing to do right now.

"It is my duty as a military professional of Lastation to-" she tried to say, only for Theta to interrupt her by holding up a hand.

"Slander your companion's unit before they even set eyes on him?" Theta finished for her. In his eyes, Lid was acting more childish than the Spec Ops. At least he had the guts to admit his own faults.

"Well…"

"Yeah." Theta barked, waving a hand. "Now shoo. If I wanted to see you, I would've checked in."

The woman tried to say something, but decided against it in the end. There would be no point in continuing this further. "Yes _Sir_ …" Lid submitted, turning and passing Nico on her way to the stairs.

On the way, she gave Nico a glare. One that he ignored as he glanced over the many men and women assembled here.

Aaliyah, standing just around the corner, stuffled a gasp as the prestigious Lastation General passed by.

"Men and women of the Cornucopia Armed Wing," Theta ignored Aaliyah and shouted down the hall. The inhabitants stopped chatting and listened. "This guy is going to be joining with you today, and it'd be great if you give him respect."

Ages stepped all the way to the front and stood a foot away from Nico. He looked down.

"Okay." Ages calmly nodded, fidgeting with his dagger. "Sure thing, boss."

Ages returned to the rear amongst the snickering of the people around him.

Theta sighed, looked down at Nico, then sighed again. He smiled, placing his hands on his hips.

"Bravo One-One Alpha to One-Three Alpha, One-Four is en route with Alpha Vectors of One-one through one -four, and Bravo Two isn't even here. Now, Bravo One-Two Actual, Falcon One Zero Niner, Dolphin One Two Two. Dolphin One Three Six. And as for this guy," Theta nudged Nico in the shoulder. "Dolphin One Three Three, yeah?"

During his whole announcement, the audience was in an uproar. Some were shuffling through notebooks in search of the profanity codes they had forgotten, and others, who had it memorized, nodded in agreement.

"Dolphin… one three three?" Nico muttered, unsure what was going on.

Theta leaned in, whispering. "Just telling them to go easy on you."

Well… Nico wouldn't lie and say he didn't need it. He didn't like the fact that he had to be coddled in this assignment, but for now he would bear it. After all, in this type of warfare, Theta was as much a teacher as his mother was when he was starting out as an Agent.

Theta stepped back, grinning. "I'll be heading out to my station now, and I'll be relaying orders to your bracelet thing. I'm not going to give you and these guys one big WARNO, as I've gotta send it to Alpha as well."

"And by the way, if you hadn't noticed by now," He kept walking, turning his back to Nico. "No one actually talks like that. It's complete bullshit outside of Flash Precedence."

And he turned the corner, leaving Nico alone with three full squads of armed men.

'Well…' Nico thought as he steeled his nerves. Nervousness didn't even begin to describe what he was feeling right now, so he did the best thing he could think of to calm down. He donned his Armour, several soldiers widening their eyes at the familiarity that Armour presented them.

"Greetings. Now, I'm not as well versed as our resident king of sarcasm back there, but…"

* * *

Once Theta left Nico alone in the hall, Aaliyah immediately perked up.

Following keenly in his footsteps, she had been on edge ever since she had seen Lid pass her by. Not only that, but all those guns and people could mean nothing but trouble. Was this what the Coalition was looking for?

"Hey!" She snapped, keeping pace with a fast-walking Theta. "Was that Lid? The one with Lastation?"

Theta looked over at her, smiling.

"Okay…" She followed the mechanic down the stairs, hobbling and bobbing up and down to keep up. "What was she doing here? What is this place? You have to tell me!"

"I do?" Theta pushed open the door, stepping onto the sidewalk. Looking towards the roofs of buildings, he saw a pair of men with binoculars and a large rifle. They were right on the top of the building, resting their arms on the tip. They were most likely the recon squad he assigned to Lid.

"Well…" The reporter stalled as Theta took another long stride down the road. She was starting to feel alone and helpless. "The Coalition wouldn't tell me anything, and you're the last lead I've got. I lost a lot in order to get here, and I can't just surrender without a story to tell!"

As the two neared the corner of _Cafe Point Unity_ , Theta slowed down.

"That's admirable." He nodded, giving her recognition by looking at her. "And I have no problems with you getting a good story."

The mechanic looked both ways before crossing the street, although all the cars had been driven to a halt. Lid had been hard at work getting the news around, and since the townspeople respected both her and the CMA, they listened. It was too late to evacuate, though, and in Theta's mind, the Coalition still needed to be reminded that was the case.

"But I don't really have time on my hands to give you an interview, sorry." Theta marched further down the road, spotting _Easton Bikes!_ down the road.

"But…" The reporter lowered her arms, distraught.

"You're free to do as you want. This is a public space, isn't it?"

They neared the shop as Aaliyah's hopes were renewed. When Theta entered the store, she was confused. Why were they entering a bike shop? Why was this man acting like he owned the whole town? What was his deal? What was up with _Easton_?

Aaliyah followed in Theta's footsteps, her breath fogging up as the bell over the door jingled.

She was taken back by the simplicity of the place, and when her eyes were drawn to the balcony above, an aura of homeliness radiated into her soul. An old picture frame lay atop the front desk, and hanging from the balcony was a marked up calendar. Assorted words and decals were plastered over the desk and across the walls, and the strong scent of bike grease made her feel warm and fuzzy.

"So you're Theta…" Aaliyah murmured, reading off a label on the wall.

"That's the name my dad gave me, yeah." He didn't look back as he passed around the desk, making a beeline for the back room.

"Hey! Wait up!"

The reporter followed close behind, hurrying to catch up. After the initial storage room, a set of back stairs seemed more out of place than she could ever had imagined. And Theta was marching down, two at a time.

It was completely dark down there, and not a single shadow dared to enter that unknown realm. A cave of monsters? Was Black Heart down there, waiting to slice her head off? Or was it something more sinister?

She took a single step as the lights flicked on, blinding her.

She walked downstairs, the whirring of computers and electronics taking her aback. This was a bike shop… right? Well, the hotel turned out to be a terrorist hideout or something. Could this be the place where they're making their secret weapons?

"Now Lia," Theta called out behind him as he jogged over to his station, far to the right of the stairs. She looked down the line of computers, spotting him at a large desk surrounded by a low, thin barrier. Almost like a playpen, but on an entirely different scale.

"Don't break anything. If you want to learn, just watch and listen. But don't interrupt."

Something about Theta had changed, but Aaliyah just couldn't put her finger on it. He was still cracking jokes, but he didn't seem as sarcastic as he was back at the hotel.

The reporter tentatively drew closer, watching as the man fumbled with a set of headphones.

As she looked around more, his desk seemed really weird. It didn't have a common theme- not military, not fun, not anything in particular.

As it was in the corner of the room, a few posters were lined on the wall. Video game titles, movies and even a poster of an artist's rendition of what White Heart is supposed to look like. As it's been years since anyone had last seen them, one can only speculate what Lowee's Goddess looks like.

A few photos and newspaper clippings were taped below stickers and a framed certificate. The newspapers included snippets of suspected Goddess sightings, local events and the headlines of _Easton Bikes! Owner disappears, ownership goes to wife and child_. The certificate on the wall was spotlessly clean, reading _Congratulations to Theta "Darkstar" Highwater for the Successful Completion of the Tzu_. The date at the bottom left five years of time between now and then.

Theta Highwater sighed, pulling a virtual reality headset over his eyes and face.

And Aaliyah crouched down low, pulling out a pen and notepad.

* * *

"Break break, Sierra One Actual, this is Darkstar. Send it, over."

The roof of _Cafe Point Unity_ was marked by the silhouettes of two men. One shuddered, feeling cold in the wind. Although the CAW uniform was though and windproof, it wasn't very warm. A thermal underlayer was standard issue, but the last Lastation supply shipment came up short.

"Wilco. Sierra One copies, sending it, out."

One man reached into a duffel bag at their feet, pulling out a futuristic-looking quadcopter drone. Unfolding it's rotors, the paramilitary soldier held it into the sky.

The rotors spun to life with a loud whirr, and it took off into the clouds. Instantly, Theta's vision cleared up from a 3D model of the town to an area image of the surrounding area. All in real time, all without the seamlessness of a virtual environment.

"All callsigns, all callsigns," Theta spoke clearly and with a hint of urgency. "This is now a directed net, use full callsigns and procedures. Standby for OPORD."

One by one, platoon leaders and squad leaders hushed their units and huddled together, ears glued to their headsets.

"Message follows to be immediately executed." The mechanic breathed, calming his rapidly beating heart. "An infantry company belonging to a Lieutenant Colonel Rogaine is preparing to initiate contact around two kicks to the west. This is the same man who struck at our foreign exchange student's unit on the Lowee-Lastation border not long ago."

In the distance, Lid scowled. The time for vengeance, she thought, was upon her.

"I have reason to believe that they will be conducting an encirclement of Easton Point as they attempt to locate and destroy the Cornucopia Military Academy. Your mission is to not only prevent them from surrounding us, but to decisively defeat them here."

"And we can do this. Our enemy consists of four platoons of green infantry supported by three APCs each. That makes around twelve Alpha Vectors. They're tired of driving and are itching for a fight. We have two platoons of some of the finest paramilitary on the planet, and a third is organizing to the south, just over the Lastation border. With them are three IFVs generously provided by the land of Black Regality, a new design with our suggestions in mind."

Theta guided his camera, attached to the drone, over to Lid. She was gathered in a group of light infantry, each one of them both listening and watching the horizon.

"Until they arrive, we are going to meet the Coalition halfway. Alpha is to envelop from the left as Bravo spreads out on the right. FRAGOs to come as the situations change. Squad leaders, remember to communicate with your cohorts and me as well."

"Message Ends. Darkstar, out."

* * *

"You hear that, Nico Nico Nii?" One of his subordinates whispered in a crouch, holding up his weapon to his chest. "Full callsigns and procedures. You better hope your bitch-ass studied last night."

"That's right." Another muttered, standing up straight with a mask over his face.

It hadn't been an… easy introduction. None of them would think that, despite his reputation, that Nico would cut it in 'the real world' as they put it. He would be lying if he said he wasn't ticked off at that, but Nico refrained from reacting in a violent manner. After all, he was to be fighting alongside these people right now, so it was best to have a decent understanding of them if they were to survive.

"Catch."

The standing soldier tossed Nico a pamphlet. One that he wordlessly caught in one armoured hand, since his DEATHSTROKE armour was deployed.

"One-One and One-Two are already moving to defensible positions. As One-Three, we're to join them. Just send the word, _boss_."

* * *

 **AN - Hunter**

 **Yo guys, new chap here!**

 **Basically, things are heating up this chapter, the Coalition have made their moves, Aaliyah has contacted Theta, Nico and Lid, while in the background Arfoire is watching this all unfold. Probably with a bag of popcorn, since she's a sadist that way. What do you think, Z?**

 **Z- Uguuuu i need to sleep gg thanks for reading lol**


	8. Monsters

**Episode 7 - Calm amidst the Calamity**

* * *

If there was such a thing as cruel irony, then this would be it, at least that's what she thought to herself as she contemplated her situation.

The sister she had never met was gone, and there was nothing Uni could do about that.

Uni sat within a military truck surrounded by armed men wearing white uniforms. The edges of her eyes spotted other men and women wearing black and silver religious garbs, and all of them were deathly silent. Their posture screamed that they weren't here to talk or be social, but then again, that was a given.

She kept her head low.

In her opinion, these men looked kinda scary.

If one were to describe her in person, they would see her as a light skinned girl with long, jet black hair, most of it being worn down reaching her chest. Some of it was worn in pigtails, held together with light blue and black ribbons. Her eyes were as crimson as rubies, each reflecting conflicting emotions as she held on for the bumpy ride that she was in.

Uni wore a black dress with milky blue lining with a odd belt-like piece with a bow behind it and a big circle with white lining connecting the dress to her collar. She wore on her arms, long fingerless black gloves with a milky blue coloring. She had a matching pair of boots. There was a cellphone attached to the left side of her dress, concealed with a protective casing.

For as long as she could remember, Uni had always been a rather… weird girl. By weird, it was meant that she had only been around for a couple months, and yet she still looked like an emerging teenager. Her growth rate had been simply inhuman according to some of the Doctors she'd visited, and she had wondered why that was for her whole life.

She couldn't remember what she was doing before waking up in Gamindustri, all she could recall was the feeling of emerging from a sort of pool-like state, like when a baby emerged from a woman's womb.

Ever since, Uni had tried to scrounge up a life with what little she had, and for a time, things were tough but manageable.

Within a matter of hours, everything had changed.

It started one day, one normal, everyday in her otherwise ordinary life. She had been returning home from getting some groceries back to her apartment when she began to feel light headed, like she was sick or something. But to her, that wasn't something that normally happened. She never even got colds before, a characteristic she had noticed a week into her life as a human.

She had played it off though, thinking that it would pass by the time the next morning came.

It didn't.

When the following day came, Uni had felt stranger still, like when she began exhibiting this strange white spectral aura from her fingertips when she was washing up for her morning routine. It felt like something was trying to come out, something large, vast and almost omnipotent. It scared her at first, but she tried to remain calm, calm and rational enough to keep going with her ordinary life.

Over time, more symptoms began to appear, and the strange power she had begun feeling gradually got stronger and stronger. If she were to make an analogy for it, she would have attributed it to an unwinding ribbon, slowly unwinding to reveal something hidden deep inside.

But she had no idea that she was a CPU candidate until the men in black pulled her into the Basilicom and told her.

If she was completely honest, that was a nightmare all in itself. Being told that you weren't human when you had been living the life of one so abruptly like that… wasn't exactly easy to accept.

According to the men in black, her powers needed to be activated by the nation's Sharicite. At first, she had her doubts, but when she made contact with the Nation's Sharicite, everything they said had been undeniably proven.

Her thoughts turned to the men in white she was with, a mix of suspicion and intrigue in her crimson pupils. They had come to her from practically nowhere, saying that they were an 'interested party' intending to escort her away from the Capital.

At first Uni didn't believe them, but then one of the men in black provided documents, signed with an official Basilicom seal. They explained that they were helpers of a business partner, someone who had informed them of an impending danger to her life.

Uni did note that they didn't seem like the normal goons unleashed by the industrial conglomerate of Avenir, the company that was said to have infiltrated the government.

Because of some important research into her, performed by the Basilicom when some Citizen blabbed her name to them, she didn't really have a choice in the whole 'Candidate' business.

Apparently she had been born for the role, and now she had to 'answer the call that was her birth right'. Thus, the black-haired girl had been dragged into the heart of the Basilicom.

There they sat her down in front of the Sharicite and, kindly enough, answered a lot of her questions that had been plaguing her. Questions that she had been wondering about her 'birth'.

She had been born from an influx of Shares, an Abnormal influx, and that was the closest the men in black had to an answer.

Some questions earned half-answers and even shrugs, which made it clear that they didn't have all the facts yet.

Though, there was one thing that she was most bothered by: What even was a CPU Candidate?

No one in Gamindustri had any idea such a thing existed, and this was the first time such a phenomenon had ever been mentioned to her.

Usually Goddesses were born from the people's faith, and that was only when they wanted a new CPU to rule. To have another Goddess born in the middle of another's rule was just… crazy.

The fact that the Basilicom was giving up on their Goddesses meant a whole lot to Uni, and the prospect of leading a country quickly became the most frightening thing she'd ever experienced.

She had just been a normal girl before all this, you know!

Before the Console War, Black Heart was known for her devotion to the country. Uni had always admired that about her back then, when she was still living a human life. Not to mention the fact that, reportedly, she had similarities to her human from's appearance which had only been recorded centuries ago. But now, she was expected to fill those duties?

How would she even start?

There was no way she could hope to meet the level of greatness of Black Heart, not when the differences between them were as far as the sky to the earth. Maybe even more than that.

Nonetheless, Uni knew she would have to try. At least until she returned, which may never happen. But Uni didn't want to think about that.

And now, an entire day has passed since she was promoted to CPU Candidate. Her new name was Black Sister, and it felt weird on her tongue.

Her old life, the life she'd built from nothing, was gone with the passing of a day.

And the more she was told about Lastation's situation, the reasons behind her Candidate Ascension grew obvious.

Share energy was at the lowest it could be without the collapse of the nation, and Uni's few powers felt sluggish and pitiful under a brief examination.

The Avenir mega-corporation was out of control and about to dominate all of Lastation in a nationwide monopoly, a bigger threat than citizens could even fathom.

Uni's thoughts drifted towards the Spec Ops Program, something born many years ago to help humanity survive the onslaught of monsters in the absence of CPUs. She didn't know all the details, but it was something big to have in her nation-oriented mind.

If she were honest, if she were around during that time she'd have liked to meet the one who developed it, for in her eyes, that person was more of a hero than the CPUs had been.

And finally, amidst the turmoil of lost faith and a collapsing society, a rebellion had sprung up in the north. Their quick and almost unobstructed victories had to be the biggest danger that Gamindustri faced, despite the threats of the Abnormal monsters and Avenir.

The Coalition was on the fast track to tearing down her Nation, and that was unacceptable.

Unfortunately for her, things were not going to go smoothly.

Avenir had realized something had happened in the Basilicom, and their quiet takeover of the center of government had accumulated towards an untimely climax. There hadn't been anything she could do, and thus, there had been only one option left.

That day ended with Uni's swift evacuation of the capitol, her feeble and completely reformed body still reeling from the incredible amount of information given to her.

Alongside a tiny detachment of trusted Basilicom staff, Lastation's government in exile discreetly settled in an inconspicuous town near the southern shore, far from the capitol.

If she was going to find her place among the ranks of Black Heart and the other CPUs, Lastation had to be saved first.

* * *

The afternoon sun cast shadows that tickled the rooftops of Planeptune, promising a beautiful day for its residents.

Citizens mingled and walked through the City Streets, going about their normal lives without much care for anything else.

Working men and women travelled to and from their jobs and homes, their lives depending only on their shift schedules. Some looked eager and ready to work, while others just wanted to stay at home for varied reasons.

Groups of teenagers loitering on the streets could be seen, bundled up and wearing hooded clothing, some playing games on their handheld consoles. Some argued and joked with their mates, while others preferred a solitary lifestyle: AKA no friends, loneliness and repressed introversy.

One could only imagine what their families did to persuade them to come out of their rooms in the first place.

Though, one citizen was the most important… for this story, anyways, and this citizen happened to be walking home from a day of doing voluntary work at the Guild.

This person was Compa.

She was a fair skinned girl with cream coloured hair and eyes, a black headband with a C logo on top of her head holding back her hair from getting into her face. She wore a woolly sweater with detached sleeves that were rolled backwards at the wrists, exposing her shoulders to the world. She wore a red checkered skirt around her waist with a hip purse that had the same logo as her headband, black stockings with a pink love heart trim and woolly low-heeled boots that matched her sweater in colour.

Humming a merry tune, Compa happily walked through the streets, amongst the crowd of people clad in various outfits that were just as… colourful, as her own. One could become blinded by the amount of colour shown in a Planeptune Crowd, it was THAT colorful. In her hands were several grocery bags, an indication of what she had been doing previously.

Compa walked along the streets, taking an exit to get herself out of the crowd, before travelling down the path she took. She wanted to get home as quick as possible, as doing voluntary work all day had left her feeling quite peckish. But, instead of going to a fast food joint in the main city, Compa had been in the mood for making something back at home. However, since her food supplies were dwindling last she checked, a trip to the grocery store had been in order.

Hence her desire to return quickly.

It took her about 30 minutes, but she finally reached her house in Planeptune's Outskirts. It was separated from the rest of the City, but that was so she could live in peace and away from the noisy streets. People tend to get rowdy, especially when new game releases were involved.

Her house was a simplistic one in design. It was a 2-story house, with light cream coloured walls and a dark brown rooftop. The windows were a matching colour, their reflections overlooking a nice garden filled with well-maintained flowers. There was a chimney on top that was releasing smoke, but not as much as Lastation's factories did. And today, this smoke had a certain smell to it.

Walking up to the door, Compa fished out a key set from her hip-purse, putting a shopping bag down to do so, before inserting the right one into a lock and opening the door. She then opened it, walking inside after picking up the discarded bag.

She went straight into the kitchen, setting the bags on the table and deposited the contents to where they belonged. It took her about 10 minutes, since this was a rather light shop. She liked the idea of making Spaghetti Bolognese today, so she began getting the necessary ingredients ready.

She was eating nice tonight!

While she got the ingredients together, Compa checked her Phone for any new messages. More specifically, any from her one and only childhood friend, Nico. The two had been nigh inseparable when they were kids, with him always standing up against those that tried bullying her. It was one of the many things she adored about him. Last she heard, he had said he had been assigned a Quest in Lowee and that he would likely not be able to call her like he had intended to,

Seemed true enough, since there were no new messages on her phone.

A frown wormed its way onto Compa's lips, worry shining in her eyes like two lights in the darkness. Things had been getting complicated, that Compa could tell since she regularly visited the Guild Website for any news updates on the Monsters. Recently, articles about the Organisation known simply as the Coalition had been appearing all over the Internet, each one detailing theories and ideas about their true goals ever since they appeared at Lastation and Lowee's borders. It was all people could talk about over social media, and the news as well.

Word was that their presence was gradually focusing on Lowee at the moment, and since Nico said that his Quest was in Lowee…

Well, she feared for his safety.

Even if Nico was a Skilled Spec Ops Agent, Compa feared that something would happen that'll result in him getting hurt, which kind of seemed pointless since he would always have a chance of getting injured in his job occupation.

But whoever said the heart could be logical when worrying for someone's safety?

' _Hope you're doing okay... Ni-Ni_.'

* * *

"Alright…"

Lieutenant Colonel Rogaine stood in his command vehicle with a hand over his chin. The world was small within the temperature-regulated rear, and it almost seemed like a video game.

So distant from the fight, he could only speculate what if felt like to be out there for real. As he gazed into the holographic map in front of him, he found his mind swallowed in the blue light.

The map seemed so simple from above. Slowly but steadily, dots and squares were moving towards the town.

His objective was to locate the Cornucopia Military Academy and destroy it. Problem was, he didn't know what the facility looked like, if the place was defended, or even if the place was worth his time.

Despite having a numerical, technological and morale advantage, there were a lot of variables that went unaccounted for.

The lack of intelligence was most the glaring, most prominent problem he faced.

How could he fight if he didn't know what he was fighting?

' _Well,'_ Rogaine thought with a shudder. ' _One step at a time.'_

A quick survey of the map revealed that his men were nearing the town's rim.

The entirety of the Easton point was flanked on two sides, the north and south, by tall hills. The main road traveled from the west, across relatively open ground.

And further to the west, where Rogaine's men came from, was the faint image of Lastation's westward mountains.

To the east was another set of rolling hills, and not too far beyond that was the open ocean.

Scattered collections of houses dotted the rural landscape, and a closer look revealed three of his Armored Personnel Carriers, or APCs, speeding through a dozen backyards, crushing fences and rock walls in their wake.

Loaded to the brim with infantry, the three APCs and their occupants made up _Puce_ Platoon. One of their squads were tasked to sneak into the town, prodding the outskirts of resistance.

The inner buildings of Easton Point weren't very tall, and their triangle-shaped or flat roofs held up snow. Coupled with the fact that the buildings were painted dull colors and trees lined the streets, the whole community looked like just another snowbank from far away.

The scene confused the men of _Marengo_ Platoon, who had trouble identifying the town from the side of a large hill to the town's south. Their APCs had trouble moving through a densely packed forest, forcing the soldiers to dismount to keep moving.

A third platoon, _Cinderous_ , was set up in reserve with their soldiers sitting patiently around their Forward Operating Base, or FOB. Rogaine's command vehicle was set up in the middle of a hastily set up perimeter made of sandbags and three dug-in APCs, all courtesy of his Rear Echelon group.

There were no windows in his command vehicle, but if the Coalition Officer looked outside he would see unloaded supplies and fire pits.

With only three of his five platoons on the front lines, Rogaine made sure that he didn't overcrowd the valley with an excessive amount of might.

Of course, aerial support didn't take up space on the ground, so his two lightly armed reconnaissance helicopters would make a fine support asset if he needed it. But he didn't know if there was anti-air in the hills, and couldn't risk sending them.

Even if he were to send them in, that might've been overkill.

After all, the town might be abandoned.

* * *

"Darkstar, Alpha One Actual, be advised, platoon is splitting up. Alpha One and Two are moving south, Alpha Three is staying on course to gas station. How copy? Over."

Lid kneeled low, gripping a handheld radio. Her platoon was lined up on a street, with the three squads of armed men and women taking cover along the sides of the street.

Talking to one another, with some pointing down the road, each of the militiamen would be lying if they weren't anxious.

Organized in squads one through three, Lid felt assured that they wouldn't fall apart as soon as things got hectic. As she awaited a response from Theta, her eyes were drawn across the street and over the tops of buildings.

A heavily forested hill met the horizon with a mixture of evergreen and snow, and she felt that it would make for a good vantage point. Of course, she had the call to make it happen, but she had to inform her commander or else things would get disorganized.

" _Solid copy, Alpha One and Two southbound, Alpha Three proceeding. Be advised that Sierra One spotted movement eastbound from the west bank of that hill, expect hostile contact, over._ "

Theta's voice ended with a radio bleep, and Lid furrowed her eyebrows.

"Understood." Lid sighed, squeezing the device out of angst. "They love making our lives miserable, don't they? Alpha One Actual, out."

The radio signal clicked on, and Lid kept holding it to her ear, despite signaling the end of communication.

" _C'mon Lid. Keep it together._ "

The Lastation General pressed down on the button to speak, but decided against saying anything. She released the button alongside a breath she didn't know she was holding.

" _Whatever's on your mind either needs to come out now, or be buried until to-fucking-night. You hear me?"_

Lid gritted her teeth as her eyes sharpened. That was NOT what she wanted to think about in this situation, it would only hamper her judgement and risk the lives of her current forces. Something that the brat called Nico wouldn't understand.

Nevertheless her memory ran wild with thoughts of her failure, making her expression ever the more aggressive.

"I'll keep it together, _boss_." Lid snarled, thinking. Thinking back when she could've saved her people, back to her station on the border.

She shoved the radio back to its pocket on her tactical vest, squeezing her lips together.

Lid stood up abruptly, startling the men closest to her.

"Second squad, get a move on!" She turned, shouting down the street. "Third squad, go!"

* * *

Back in the hotel, the older man and reporter just finished the radio transmission to Lid. In contrast to Aaliyah, who looked more than a little anxious, Theta had the face of a mix between annoyance, anger and frustration as he groaned, holding his forehead with an index finger and thumb.

"The nerve of that woman…" Theta muttered to himself, shaking his headset-laden head.

This did not go unnoticed by an inquisitive Aaliyah.

"Lid, you mean?" The reporter questioned, scribbling on her notepad. She noticed that there seemed to be something going on with Lid.

Not just when she slandered that other guy's unit, but Lid seemed much angrier than what she was normally made out to be: calm, composed and professional.

"Yeah." Theta nodded in confirmation, already queuing in on the reporter's thought process. He leaned back on his chair, his expression evoking a mix of worry and anxiety.

"She thinks she's the shit. But she's not. And that'll get her killed." He sighed. "Too bad that she's the best we got."

* * *

There was such a difference in performing the role of a leader in person rather than in the simulation. Nico hadn't truly understood this fact in the simulation, but in this situation he was in, this fact had quickly dawned on him.

Managing squads was not as easy as it was in simulations since, despite being made to be extremely lifelike, still didn't have the same feeling as doing it for real. The man, Ages D'Thesda was in charge of the entire Platoon, Bravo Platoon. It consisted of three main squads, while Nico was only commanding one Squad.

They were tasked with defending the main road through Easton Point, and he had to do all he could to not let his inexperience impede his judgement. Thankfully, he'd already downloaded a holographic map of the entire town on his Bracer, and with a few manipulations of the Screen he'd managed to show on it were the enemy was coming from.

On his Holomap of Easton Point, there were red dots that signified enemy positions, the green dots were their own forces, while larger dots could be seen to represent important and/or garrisoned buildings.

From what he could tell, Theta's little table didn't have the same capacity as his Bracer, which could be considered 'overpowered weapon #47' in that sense. No, Nico WASN'T bluffing on that one.

However, this would likely end up saving their bacons, since Nico's Bracer detected red dots coming down from the opposite end of the Main Road. His Squad and him were dug deep within a Trench, designed so that they could shoot out of it at any given moment. The ground was covered in thick layers of snow, making the white uniforms his comrades wore extra effective. Nico's armour was covered by the snow as well, giving it equal camouflage from the enemy.

He could almost smell the anxiousness his Squad felt as they awaited the inevitable confrontation.

Bringing up his small handheld radio, Nico contacted the leader of their Platoon. "Bravo One Actual, this is DEATHSTROKE, I've detected hostiles approaching the Main Road. They don't appear to be moving aggressively, however they have crossed the caution margin on the map."

" _Not sure if a caution margin exists. However, they're probably scouts. Keep an eye on them, and if they get too close, do what you do best, over._ "

The radio transmitted Ages' orders loud and clear, and after he made to respond with an affirmative, something triggered itself in Nico's mind.

Something Theta once said to them, them being him and Lid. His eyes narrowed when he recounted that particular sentence.

' _The onhly way to ruely win is to noht fight… Translated - The only way to truly win is to not fight… maybe, we can use that to our advantage. These buildings should be deserted, so there's little concern for civilian casualties. Last time I checked, I have some Shaped Charges inside my Void Storage from my last Mission in Lastation. They should come in handy.'_

"Bravo One, I have an enemy looks like they don't know where we are. Could we use their lack of information to our advantage by blowing up parts of the town and making it look like the buildings are a natural hazard? Like a landslide, they won't know where we are and we can still damage their forces."

It was an idea, one that was partially inspired by Lid actually. He had her to thank for it since she used a similar tactic against him early on in their simulation fight. It was an annoying tactic, having to deal with natural hazards while keeping your own forces hidden so the enemy didn't know your location.

It was basically a hit'n'run tactic.

" _It's not just my call._ " Through the static transmission, Nico could hear him sigh. " _And that seems like a you problem... go convince the desk boy, not me. Got any ideas on how to go about it, over?_ "

Nico nodded. "I have some Shaped Charges from my last mission in Lastation. Got quite the power to them, they'll work in our favour."

Several of his squad members eyed him from the corners of their eyes, overhearing his transmission with their commander. They wondered how the kid was going to pull his little stunt off, Lid had said he was a 'useless, rude, arrogant moron who didn't deserve to be brought to the battlefield' but so far, he had kept his cool through the insults. Kid had a reputation, looked like he was sticking to it.

" _Hmm… This is on you if you do this or not, so you heard nothing from me. Out._ "

* * *

Back in his command post, Theta overheard their transmission from his command console. A small upturning could be seen on his lips, illuminated by the screen while Aaliyah stayed off at the side.

' _What the fuck is he trying to do?_ ' He thought, his thoughts subconsciously turning into words.

"Well, I'll be…"

"Um, Theta? What's that guy doing?" The reporter interjected, looking at the screen. It showed that Lid was about to engage the enemy in the hills down south, while a small portion of the Coalition had been detected from the West, down the road.

They were significantly smaller, likely scouts according to what Theta had briefly explained to her before this battle even began.

The man didn't look at her when he answered, his eyes locked onto the screen. "Just a lesson sinking in the complete wrong way."

His move will definitely result in collateral damage, which will be more than problematic in the future. Even then, they completely ignored the chain of command and didn't relay their actions up to him.

Not only that, but because they didn't know about the civilian factor for sure, they could make a grave mistake. Which they will- people were told to hide in their homes, as there was no time for an evacuation.

It was at this moment, Theta came to the almost obvious conclusion that reading a manual does nothing for someone- a lengthy education does. Even with invincibility and physical power, his suspicions and hypotheses became a reality.

Without intervention, this was going to make for a terrifyingly large after action report.

* * *

Nico glanced behind him as he made his way towards the Scouts, taking the scenic route which involved going through back alleys, and using any cover he could find to travel without being seen.

He'd taken his entire squad along with him, with orders from Ages to leave the remaining two Squads at the Trench for the time being. A smaller man squad meant less chance of getting noticed, and this was going to be a covert operation, not a full scale assault.

That would result in too many casualties for his liking, something that he probably wouldn't have batted an eye about in the past. However, today he had learned some lessons, took them to heart.

Yet, Nico couldn't stop the feeling in his gut that something would go wrong. It was something about the way that people spoke that made him question the choice he was making, like they knew something that he didn't.

The Armoured teen didn't like that, not one bit.

He made sure to listen to his gut, since it saved his ass plenty of times, nonetheless, so he'd went ahead and sent out a Recon Drone to scout the areas ahead, and to report to him of anything significant to the plan.

True his Bracer had things the Drone didn't, like a Motion Detector, Holo Map, and other features, however its mobility and the fact that it was small helped it scout areas much better than a Bracer could. He liked having both on hand for different situations.

More options, more chances of survival.

"Hey DEATHSTROKE," one of his Subordinates, a woman with brown hair in a bun while carrying an Assault Rifle, spoke suddenly to break him from his thoughts. Glancing behind him, he wordlessly gave her permission to speak. "You sure this plan of yours is gonna work? The boys up top might be concerned."

He figured that was aimed at his lack of following the command chain. Honestly, Nico figured that was his inexperience getting in the way, plus he thought that it was Ages who should report to not Theta, he was more of a secondary priority. In his eyes, it was meant to be Ages who would then report to Theta on their missions.

Plus, there's the fact that they were caught by surprise even with their knowledge of the Coalition eventually coming here. They didn't have all the cards they usually had, according to Theta. This was best they make do with the hands they'd been dealt.

"That may be, but it will be me they will be concerned with, not you. I'll take the heat for this plan." he responded evenly, before pausing when they reached a back alley. He raised a fist to signal for the squad to hold. "Hold here." His lone eye narrowed when he began to hear footsteps.

He slightly peered out and noticed a detachment of Men in military gear walking down the street, looking like they were searching. His eye glanced at their uniforms, marking them as members of the Coalition. "We've got hostiles." Nico muttered under his breath.

Another subordinate, a muscular man who was sporting an RPG, with dark hair and eyes, narrowed them as he stuck his back against the wall. "Numbers? Plan?"

"One moment." Nico quickly got a data feed from his Recon Drone, which showed the men across the street while also getting a view of the other streets. There were no signs of reinforcements, meaning this was just a small scouting force. The main enemy must be somewhere else.

He checked his Motion Detector and Holomap to see if any enemies were hiding, only to find nothing. Glancing from his cover, he noticed that one of them seemed to have a Comm device on his back, as evident by the antennae coming out of it.

In that case, he knew what to do.

No using charges yet, time to play it old school. Swiftly, he took something out of his Void Storage, something the others couldn't see. "On my mark you all aim for the ones surrounding the Comm tech, keep them disorganised so they can't relay their position to their superiors." he ordered the soldiers behind him, who nodded in response.

Taking a breath, Nico schooled himself and tossed what he'd taken out towards the Coalition infantrymen. It bounced along the ground, rolling across it after a couple bounces before stopping at one of them's feet.

When they looked down at it in confusion, they only had one second before they were soon blinded by a bright flash.

' _Flashbangs!'_ The CMA soldiers thought, the male one switching from his RPG to his sidearm: a single-action revolver with a revolving cylinder holding six metallic cartridges. Instantly, they rolled out of cover to begin opening fire on the enemy while they were distracted.

Their de-facto leader had already closed the distance between the comm tech and him by this time.

First, Nico grabbed him by the scruff of his uniform, kicking his feet out from beneath him before smashing him hard into the ground. This succeeded in making the man cry out while he tried to struggle against him. The Spec Ops Agent however, had other plans though, as Nico raised his arm with his hand in a clawing position.

The man's eyes widened in shock, horror and dread when he saw that, his skin paling when he thought of what the kid would do next. Much to the shock and horror of both him, and Nico's own subordinates...

SQUELCH, SPLATTER, SQUELCH, CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE!

The teen effortlessly tore the man's heart out in a spectacular show of gore.

Blood splattered across the ground like artwork, mixed with fragments of bone from the man's shattered ribcage. Some fragments even punctured his lungs when the other male's hand tore through it like it was nothing more than tissue paper.

The man's own heart, still connected to his body by arteries, pulsated in Nico's hands for a brief second, and in that brief moment Nico could feel the slimy wetness of the organ in his hands. The organ that supplied the lifeblood that was to sustain someone. Someone whose life right now hung in his own hands, literally.

That was before he went about clenching his fist tightly, crushing the organ in an explosion of blood which stained both his hand, and his Armour, red. He didn't look the least bit affected by what he did either, like it was a casual occurrence.

' _There, now they wouldn't know what happened here would be done by us.'_

Two were left, their comrades having been gunned down by his subordinates. Nico flipped through the air and landed a boot into his face, the strength added to it enough to turn his face to mush. Sounds of bones being grinded into paste, with flesh being minced, rung throughout the battleground. His headless from crashed to the ground, Nico landing behind it in a crouch.

He then took out a hidden knife from the soldier's fallen corpse and threw it at the last one who was making to run instead of go down like a soldier, ending up impaling him through the back of his head. The soldier gasped wordlessly, before dropping dead.

Standing up, Nico looked to the skies above, noticing that his Recon Drone was still floating near a building's rooftop. His eye narrowed as he wordlessly gave it orders through his Bracer to have it scout the surrounding areas. He would make sure there were no more Coalition forces in the West, so the others wouldn't have to worry about them.

He would leave no Coalition survivors, none.

Looking at the corpses, Nico noticed that they still had their gear on them. Despite the deaths their former wielders experienced, they were still intact. His eye was drawn to their communications tech though, his mind whirling with possibilities. ' _These… we can use these to our advantage…'_ he thought to himself.

Once that was ascertained in his mind, Nico decided to commandeer these people's technology. He raised his Bracer, and opened his Void Storage. Putting his hand over the screen, he pressed a few keys, His eye sharp like a blade.

VERIFYING TECHNOLOGY CODE

VERIFICATION COMPLETE

ASSIMILATION COMMENCE

CONFIRM?

Nico confirmed it with a tap of his finger and the pieces of tech on the soldiers all became particles, oddly reminiscent of how Monsters die, before the Bracer absorbed the Particles. A message appeared on his Bracer's holographic screen afterwards:

TECHNOLOGY SUCCESSFULLY ASSIMILATED

Sounds of footsteps were heard behind him, and Nico glanced in that direction while only partially turning, seeing his subordinates walking up to him. None of them tried not to show it, but they had specs of green on their cheeks, plus his sense of smell could detect rising vomit in their throats that they were trying to suppress.

"Status?" Nico requested.

"I mean… they're all dead. Nobody got out, from what we could tell." The man stated for the rest of them while looking wearily towards Nico's bloodied hand. The hand that had just minutes ago torn someone's heart out of their body with brutal ease.

Noticing his gaze, the Spec Ops Agent released a small sigh. "You have something you want to say, so say it. I'd rather you be open with me, that way there's no suspicions of our motives." he told them.

They all looked at each other, before looking back at him. This time, it was the woman that spoke first, or rather it was more like an unnerved shout.

"What the actual fuck?! Did you just take out someone's heart?! Then go and turn that poor bastard's head to paste with just a kick?! That's sick and wrong on so many levels!" she ranted, her face paling even with the facepaint on. Her squadmate didn't look that much better, in his opinion.

Nico had foreseen this happening though, from the moment he'd signed on for this Quest, that his methods would become scrutinized. It was something that happened a lot with his Clients, so much so that the revulsion with himself that he felt at the beginning had all but vanished. "To you yes, it does seem that way, but we Spec Ops fight monsters in all shapes and sizes, we see things that put our morals into perspective. It's only natural we become what we hunt."

"Then wouldn't that make you no different from the Monsters though? I'd think you'd try to not be like them or something." The man asked, frowning.

The armoured teen shook his head. "Quite the opposite, we Spec Ops already viewed ourselves as monsters before even joining. We just found a place where we can speak with our own kind. Our world isn't like yours, there is no light, no justice, no nothing, Only the monsters and us. We are monsters, no different from the Abnormals. Some are so by choice, but others… others have no choice at all." Something flashed in Nico's eyes at that last part, but it was gone the next instance.

"And…" The woman began, gulping. This was a heavy subject, and she'd be lying if she said she'd get over it quickly. She held her rifle close to her chest, almost as if to protect her from the person in front of them. But still, she had something to ask, and since he was being co-operative… "What about you?"

Nico stayed silent for a moment, not answering her question. Instead, he just turned and walked on.

* * *

In the Hotel/command room, Theta watched everything from his screen, eyeing the various battle fronts happening throughout easton point. Aaliyah had foregone sitting behind him and was leaning over his shoulder, eyeing the area with intense scrutiny.

Of course, being the kind of person he was, Theta capitalised on this opportunity to make some of his signature wisecracks, or as some of his men called it, his 'assholeisms' at her demeanor.

"Keep staring so hard and the board might go up in flames."

"H-Huh?"

Blinking momentarily, Aaliyah paused her observation and gave him a look. One that suggested how unamused she was with that little jab at her actions. "What's that supposed to mean?" she questioned hotly, only for Theta to shrug his shoulders and not answer her. So far, she could tell that this guy had this aura about him that just screamed ' _I like messing with people for the heck of it.'_

She probably wasn't wrong there, either.

"Anyways, things don't look good for Lid." She remarked, gesturing to the southern lines. The Coalition seemed to be pushing Lid's forces back, and they were steadily gaining ground. They launched a pincer attack when they realised that they were being assaulted by enemy fire, catching the Lastation General off guard.

She had been so focused on her line that she hadn't realised the two smaller waves flanking her from multiple angles. Nevertheless, it looked like Lid was doing her best to hold the defense, but so far she could only last for so long. "I may not be an expert in your soldier stuff, but it looks like she's getting her ass whooped pretty hard."

Theta hummed, leaning back on his chair to stroke his shaven chin. His eyes, while calm, hid how anxious he was feeling deep inside. "Well, you're not wrong there. The main force is occupying Lid's forces at the time, while some scouts have been sorta sighted by Nico's side. He disobeyed the chain of command, but at least he's not revealing his troops position." He remarked, about to make a call to Ages to see how things were progressing on his end, when a call came through before he could.

" _Darkstar, this is DEATHSTROKE. I may have stumbled on something interesting,"_

"This is Darkstar, DEATHSTROKE. Interesting you called this time." Theta answered with a small smirk. "Considering you disregarded the chain of command before, I was thinking you were going AWOL."

" _Apologies, short answer: not enough experience with this. I'll surrender myself for disciplinary action once this is over. Anyways, I've commandeered some of the Coalition's tech: A com relay and several weapons. Thinking we can use that to listen in on their radio chatter, over."_

Now THIS grabbed Theta's attention, his eyes perking up in interest. "Huh… that's too easy. You plan anything to hide yourself?" He questioned. Listening in on the enemy wasn't a bad idea, if a bit risky, but one had to be prepared to make sure the enemy didn't know they were listening in. Plus, this was just as risky as his other idea.

" _Affirmative. Have some equipment in my Void Storage that can help there. I'll make sure they'll never see us coming."_

"Well then, I want you to get me that equipment as soon as you can. Over." Theta said, before the call was disconnected, leaving behind static on his end. Afterwards, the man heaved a sigh as he leaned back on his chair. "Fucking hell…"

Aaliyah eyed the man curiously, wondering why he was acting that way. From what she could tell, this sounded like a good thing. "Guess that guy changed his battle plan?" she questioned him,

Theta glanced over to her this time, using only one eye to look at her. "Looks like. Still comes with risks though."

"But, doesn't every plan have risks behind it?"

Upon her asking that, Theta thought back to Lid's encounter with Nico, and how the blade of his knife refused to enter the boy's skin. His eyes lit up as an idea came to him. Maybe he could use Nico's unique physical attributes to his advantage.

"Yeah. But I get the feeling that everything will turn out better than we expected."

* * *

It looked like things weren't going to be as easy as he had hoped.

Rogaine couldn't help but think this as he eyed the holographic map in front of him. He watched as his forces from the south engaged with red coloured dots and squares, strategically placed for defensive purposes.

Not minutes into the battle he realised that he was fighting someone of considerable leadership skills. While they were indeed pushing through the enemy lines. It would be gradual, and lives will be lost, but they should gain victory by the end.

He had sent scouts to the west ahead of time, and so far they haven't reported anything of interest so that meant he was on the right track.

Like any stereotypical general in the military written in fanfiction, the man scratched his stubble on his chin. He should really get a shave sometime soon, as his hairs were beginning to grow back in.

"Okay…" He muttered, rubbing his hands together. His hands danced across the holomap, zooming up, down and around as he analyzed his situation.

His superior had ordered him to get his forces out of the area. Something was more important, something he had yet to be told about.

And so, with a tap of his fingertips, he delivered an order to his APCs in the rear. He informed them to move to transport his infantry away from the fight.

Rogaine knew that he needed to have every upper-hand available to dominate a battle. Since this was becoming more of a fair fight than he had ever wanted, the conflict was not going to go in his favor. At least, the fight may end in a victory- but at what cost? Nothing favorable, that's for sure.

That was the Colonel's reasoning for leaving, although the real reason remained unknown.

Lieutenant Colonel Rogaine zoomed his holomap all the way out, satisfied with how things were going.

His forces along the hills had the enemy nearly surrounded, and the town appeared clear for moving up. It's better to leave with the upper hand, he thought.

The commander tapped on a symbol to the side of the holomap, bringing up communications with the leader of his recon team.

"Puce 1-2, this is Actual. What's your status?" Rogaine stretched one of his arms out wide, yawning out of built up stress.

" _Actual, this is Puce 1-2, we're pushing upwards from the West. No signs of contact yet."_

The Colonel raised an eyebrow, his mind jarring at the response. No contact? And that voice didn't sound like the leader of the squad at all.

"Puce 1-2, you're to rendezvous at RV two, your rides will be there. How copy?"

" _Copy that."_

"Hey," Rogaine started, his voice getting aggressive. "What's going on? Kyle, you going through puberty or something?"

" _It's the cold weather, never did feel like it agreed with me. Makes me feel like a pissant brat again."_

"Sure…" He mutters, sighing. His heart sank. "Yeah, sure, what were we doing after this all blows over? Kyle? You tell me you're still with me."

" _... You know EXACTLY what happened to your stupid recon team, you slimy piece of shit."_

"You... slimy piece of shit… you killed him, didn't you?" He said slowly and methodically, his voice breaking towards the end. "You'll be taking back those words."

" _I doubt that, considering how I tore out his heart like a hot knife through tissue paper, watching the life bleed out from his eyes. I mean really, what did you expect to happen? That you'll make it out of here alive, jolly, get married and start a corrupt family? No, sir, not on your life. You doomed it the moment that you started this pathetic little farce and got myself involved. You Coalition fuckers are all the same. You try to say you're all the shit, but in the end you needlessly endanger the lives of innocent civilians. You may call a monster all you want, however, do you know who the REAL monsters are?"_

"You. You and your criminal band of idiots who think a corrupt Lastation is better than a democracy that serves the people, from the people. You, who clump us all together, and slaughter people fighting like yourself." The commander shuddered, a surge of anger filling his veins. A rebellion is one thing, a personal war is another. He did threaten his family, after all. Whoever this person is, they killed his friend. And this will not go unpunished.

" _Ah, but that's where you're wrong. This world is FULL of monsters, monsters that make your childhood stories feel tame in comparison. The best way to fight a monster, is to become one yourself. You, and all your coalition friends sowed your fates by taking this job. Me? I'm just the reaper. How about this, I'll challenge you. Find me, and then I will show you… just what it's like facing a monster you cannot kill, a beast that can tear out your heart from your ribcage, just like I did your friend. If you don't, i'll come for you. I'll hunt you down, and you will meet the same, pathetic end, which is basically more than scumbags like you deserve."_

The speaker on the other end snarled, mockery and sinister vibes rolling from its words in waves. There was also an underlying hunger in his words, like he WANTED Rogaine to find him. It was enough to give him pause, if only briefly. His words indicated that he didn't find the Colonel to be threatening in the least, like his rage towards his friend's death was nothing more than a child's tantrum.

"Like all monsters, you'll bleed just like the rest of us." The Coalition commander retorted as he placed his hands on his hips, calming down with deep breaths. "You keep up that attitude. Keep that up, because one day you'll make your last enemy. And with enemies made all around you, you'll find no one left to help you. It's your life. And it's one that you doomed the moment you tear out another man's heart. This is Lieutenant Colonel Rogaine of the Jagged Edge, out."

The transmission cut on Rogaine's command, leaving him alone in the vehicle. Just him and the holomap, alone on this planet once again. Left to grieve and to think, the Commander closed his eyes.

At least the withdrawal was going well.

* * *

Pocketing the communications device back into his Void Storage, Nico returned to the Bike Shop, his eye shining with a sense of victory that only he could tell. The male knew he had shaken the colonel deeply. That man he killed, had been someone close to the colonel, and was killed brutally and with no mercy. That was news for him, but it was not like Nico cared.

After all, the Colonel had given plenty of other people the same heartache by killing off Lastation troops, according to what Theta said with that announcement back at the beginning of the defense mission. In essence, what happened was considered karma on his part.

Nico figured Lid would probably hate him more now, since the colonel now wanted to kill him more than to kill her for what he did. Nico had basically stole her target away from her. But what she would fail to realise, was that the Colonel was the type of person whom Nico hunted as a criminal nearly every time he went on criminal cases. The Spec Ops Agent considered himself a beast, a monster, an animal, and all that self-deprecating stuff. He'd torn through monster and human flesh alike, to him there was no difference.

You may be a king or a street sweeper, but in the end everyone dances with the grim reaper.

Once he entered the Bike shop, Nico went down to the basement, seeing that Theta was sitting there with that reporter by his side. Then teen knocked on the closest wooden frame, alerting the two to his presence.

"Oh hello there!" Theta called out loudly an obnoxiously, pulling the headset off his ears. "You had a good time out in the shit?"

Nico shrugged his shoulders. "Feel like I'm more cut out to be the lone wolf type of person. Probaby traumatized the whole squad out in the field." The teen replied. "In any case, I have the equipment." He then deposited his commandeered equipment from his Void Storage, laying it out on a nearby desk.

"Yeah… we might have to have a talk about that. Nice job, getting your hands on this thing and all. Maybe we can figure out why they're pulling out…" Theta held up the device to his nose, curiously eyeing each crack and button.

"I'll take a look at it." The mechanic nodded, setting it down on the desk. "You can run off now, 'Lone Wolf'. Go talk to your platoon leader, Ages or something. I'm going to have a chat with the associated press." Theta finished with a chuckle, waving him away.

"Quick question, how's Lid faring?"

"Lid?" Theta smiled. "You, of all people, thinking of something other than the blood on your hands? Well, she's doing something down to the south. Last message I got was that she's jerking off to carnage." He grinned. "I'm kidding. I think she's doing a debrief."

Nico rolled his eyes at the man's usual antics, but right now he didn't really mind all that much. "Just curious. I connected the pieces together in my mind, your announcement, her… unusually high hostility towards me, I've seen it before. In people who lost something precious to them that they'll never get back. Only, some people deserve it. Her on the other hand…" Nico's tone dropped an octave as he dismissed his Armour. Theta covered his eyes with a hand as the datastreams enveloped him, before they died down to reveal his unarmed from. Though, without it, Theta saw faint traces of… compassion? Within his eyes. "She didn't. Also, don't think I'm not respecting her drive as a soldier. I honestly want to defeat her myself, but when she's at her best. Right now, she's not at her best."

"Yeah. No one is ever at their best. You just have to make do with what you have."

"I guess."

* * *

 **AN - Hunter: Yet another chapter finished. Sorry this took so long, Zergface here doesn't have as much time as he used to. Say sorry to the fans, please ;)**

 **Z- I'm not sorry- I have a life so hunter writes like 99% of this now gg lol**


	9. Around Town

**Episode 8a**

Things slowly calmed down in Easton Point.

With the Coalition's retreat, the Citizens were allowed to come out of their homes now that there wasn't any risk of stray bullets claiming any more innocent lives. This was accompanied by calm weather, or rather, calmer than usual weather. It was almost like the weather was saying that they deserved a respite from its usual behaviour.

This would be a welcome reprieve nonetheless though, not just for the civvies but also the soldiers aiding in the repairs for the battlegrounds in Easton Point, too.

The southern areas had been damaged by the conflicting forces, with shell remains, pieces of shrapnel, undetonated bombs, the works all over the streets. The CMA had sealed off the south so they could make sure it was safe to navigate. Some civvies helped as well, since they had homes there that they needed to get back to. This was their community, after all.

Aside from the damage, much of the populace had been left shaken from the incident. The fact that a battle had just happened right outside their doors where they could easily have been caught in the crossfire, had been made apparent through every explosion. Explosions both distant and close.

Some people prayed that their Goddess White Heart would bestow her divine wrath on the Coalition from Celestia. The vision of their CPU was but a distant, yet comforting memory in trying times.

Though, one good thing came out of this: The CMA just gained the support of the rest of Easton Point. After all, they hadn't had much contact with the coalition, so none of them had a good idea at the time what they were like. Now however, with the recent battle having occurred, their eyes got opened to a dark truth. That these guys would do a whole hell lot of shit to advance their goals. No regard for civilian casualties, either. Individuals who had been conflicted for where their loyalties lay now hated the Coalition.

Not long after the battle had ended, did the rest of their members arrive. They had been expecting to come back to a safe, secure town filled with peace and serenity, like Lowee was known to be. Not a nearly ravaged war zone that had just barely survived being potentially wiped from the map.

Nevertheless, on Theta's orders, they each helped with the repairs, mostly in excavating the remains of the weapons from the streets so nobody else got hurt. Others with more expertise on the medical side were told to tend to those wounded, before any more lives were lost.

It was hard to tell who suffered the most casualties, the CMA or the Coalition. On one hand, Lid's CMA Unit suffered casualties by the dozens, thanks to them being in the heat of the action, though they did manage to get a few good casualties in of their own on the enemy side. On the other hand however, Nico's Squad managed to take out a sizable chunk of the Coalition scouting forces without suffering casualties of their own, mostly because their leader would put himself in the most danger to tear them apart limb by limb.

With the makeshift medbays full of wounded, some wounds being greater than others (like lost limbs and bullet wounds), it was difficult to say who truly won this battle.

The failure of the Coalition to defeat the CMA was important, but more so were the irreplaceable casualties taken by the defenders.

Thus, unbeknownst to them, both sides could agree that this outcome could best be described as a draw…

Although it was just the beginning, the calm before the real storm set to arrive sooner than the CMA would like.

* * *

Trudging along the snow-covered streets, one Spec Ops Agent had his hands in his Trench Coat pockets as he took in the sights. Nico walked through the streets, heading towards the southern battlefield remains to see what the aftermath of this kind of warfare would be like. He wouldn't lie and say he didn't want to know this, as this type of conflict had numerous differences to the kind of combat he was used to.

Despite everything being over, Nico couldn't help but feel a slight rise in tension in the air. Normally, after he'd successfully fought against Abnormals the male would feel like he had lost a great weight from his shoulders, relief filling him as he allowed himself to calm down from the adrenaline rush. His Motion Tracker wouldn't detect any enemies, so he would be safe to take a small breather before returning to his Client.

However, this battle was different.

Even though it was over, the effects the battle had still lingered in the air. There was a heavy tension in the atmosphere, a tension that he knew EVERYONE could feel judging by the complicated faces of citizens and CMA Soldiers alike as he passed them by. Some recognised him as one of the NCO's that aided in Easton Point's defence. Some gave him a lookover, while those that had seen or heard of his exploits on that particular battle gave him a wide berth.

He could understand why, his methods were... morally questionable at best. Normal people don't go tearing off limbs left and right like seeking prizes in a festival. Normal people don't smash skulls into mush with the organs inside, or do any of that shit Nico had done back then. Also, normal people CERTAINLY didn't go threatening their commander of what he would do to him once he caught the enemy commander.

None of this bothered him, though.

Nico knew he was different. Different from normal people. When people try to kill mercifully, he did the exact opposite. He was brutal in his killings, like a tundra in terms of coldness. It was why he would rather associate himself with fellow Spec Ops Agents who do things similar to him. People who have seen the same shit as him, so they could understand why he did things the way he did.

His thoughts stopped when Nico passed by a park. A park he saw was filled with couples and families. Parents sat on benches around the park, watching their children play together happily, innocently and blissfully ignorant of what happened around them. Things stayed the same, even in the presence of violence. The cold, dry wind calmly blew through the scene, creating an air of serenity and innocence to the picture.

It was the job of the adults to worry about those kinds of things, so the young could live on without worry. At least, that was the common view when concerning children.

Nico wasn't so sure about that.

Nevertheless, the teen felt like sitting down for a spell wouldn't hurt him. He was supposed to be relaxing for a bit, Theta's orders. Well, it wasn't so much as an order, but rather a recommendation… a recommendation that Nico found himself agreeing to, surprisingly enough. Plus, he could use the opportunity to think on what he should do next.

Twisting on his boots, Nico walked into the park, hearing the soft crunching of the Loweean snow beneath them as he made his way towards one of the few empty benches. When he was right before it, Nico twirled around and sat on it, letting out a breath he didn't realise he'd been holding when he felt the tension leave his legs. ' _Ahhhh… didn't realise how good this felt till just now…'_

Looking upwards, Nico eyed the parents and the children throughout the park his gaze that of a Hawk's as he measured their facial expressions and miniscule ticks. Just to get an estimate as to how they were taking all this. Expressions could tell a lot about a person, though the most important part were their eyes.

Eyes were like windows to the soul, that was something Nico believed to the fullest. He'd seen many a traitor through how they look at things alone- not a skill that could be bragged about at a bar, as there was a chance people would think that he was an edgy edgelord or some shit like that.

Nico scowled to himself.

Being edgy was NOT his goal, yet there have been moments in his life where he could see others calling him edgy. It was his upbringing, not his intention.

Not something he felt particularly proud of, he had to admit.

Looking back to the parents, his once hard gaze softened considerably, seeing how behind their facades of cheerfulness, there lay hidden worry, weariness and dread for what was to come. Hope for normality lie behind a knowledge for the future. These people tried to hide it for the sake of their children, their friends and families, but Nico's hawk-like eyes saw through their pathetic Masks. Even Guild Agent Candidates could have seen their hidden emotions if they knew what to look for.

Obviously, the battle at Easton Point had shaken the populace more than they cared to admit. They had been used to a safe, and relatively peaceful, life without a worry in the world. In their eyes, this was just a simple town with little to no strategic value to it. Hardly worth trying to destroy just to get something specific out of it.

And yet, a battle had just taken place at their southern doorstep.

Their idea of peace had been shattered without mercy by the Coalition. What had once been a nice, peaceful, and caring town had nearly been reduced to rubble by two opposing forces clashing in a battle of dominance and wits.

If the Coalition hadn't retreated so abruptly when they did, then Nico could foresee countless casualties on both ends, the end result being how EVERY member of the CMA would have been slaughtered. The CMA destroyed before enemy Reinforcements could have gotten here.

Also, there had been a revelation Nico had when he first saw civilians walking out their homes. A revelation that had shaken him to the core though he'd hid it well. His hands clenched into fists at the thought, while his teeth gnashed together. ' _I almost blew up buildings with people inside…'_ he thought to himself with disgust. ' _My little stunt could have killed innocent civilians…'_

Nico prided himself on his ability to kill the corrupt to protect those that need protecting. He was a monster that ate other monsters, after all. Protecting the innocent and punishing the Guilty, while seemingly subjective, was how he lived.

In his eyes, people were generally horrible and untrustworthy assholes, but there were some who took it to the extreme. One such example would be the Hidden Nepper, a serial killer who targeted anyone who shared even the tiniest resemblance to Planeptune's CPU.

And when he got his hands on those poor souls… well, lets just say its not for those under 18 what he did to them.

So, the thought that he had nearly committed to actions that would have condemned him in the eyes of his fellow Spec Ops, as well as his own ideals, left a particularly sour taste in his mouth. Something that Nico nearly wanted to stab himself for not realising sooner.

It was worse because, now that he thought about it, there hadn't been enough time for everyone to have evacuated. The Coalition had literally caught them while their pants were down, so they couldn't do anything except persuade civilians to stay in their homes. Homes he'd almost blown up.

Theta and Ages probably knew about this, and that was why they acted the way they did. They knew that nobody had been evacuated, that they were trapped within this warzone. They likely didn't say anything to hm so that he'd learn a valuable lesson, that winning by not fighting would be a lot harder to do in real life than he thought. Hell, he doubted that complete victory would ever be possible in these conditions.

When one wages a war, they were bound to lose something in some way or another.

While he pondered on the near disastrous events that had unfolded, Nico almost didn't register the presence approaching him. He would have lashed out with… something, anything he could, if he didn't notice there to be a lack of hostility radiating from the presence. Looking up, he saw that it was a young child, no older than seven, looking up at him with innocent yet childish curiosity.

"Something you need, kid?"

The boy flinched at the sharpness behind Nico's question, as well as the tone he used for it.

"Um… I was just wondering… are you okay?" he asked timidly, uncomfortably shifting from one foot to another.

"What do you mean by your question?" Nico questioned, slightly surprised now. Hell, his expression didn't look all that different from a surprised deer. Sorta made him look more… normal, in the kid's eyes.

It took a moment for the boy to respond, probably got slightly intimidated by his previous demeanor or something, before he finally spoke. "We-Well… you had this look on your face mommy gets whenever daddy's out in the field." he explained, glancing off to his rear flank. Nico followed his direction, and noticed that he was looking towards a woman and a man sitting on a bench.

Much to Nico's surprise, the man he could recognise as one of his own squad members. The one with the RPG, he recalled. He didn't have all his combat gear on though, instead he wore large, wooly others such as a coat, a Ski Cap, brown pants and black boots. He wore nothing on his hands this time, so Nico saw the wedding ring on his finger.

' _So… he had a family worrying for him…'_

Now that gave Nico pause to think. He knew that the soldiers he commanded had lives outside the military. They had reasons to fight, reasons to survive till the next day. This must apparently be his reason for living past it. He had a family to go back to, a loving wife who worried for him and a son to carry on his name,

Thinking this made him think back to the old man back in the Racoon City Outbreak who died so the rest of them could live. The family he had left behind…

Nico mind conjured an image of their tary faces, grief plastered across them as they mourned the death of their loved one. That man had been unable to return to his family, and thus the price was paid.

This time however, it was the exact opposite…

A small amount of warmth spread through his chest. Monster he may be, but the thought that he had managed to ensure a family got to see their husband/father again made him feel like less of a shitstain than he really was.

Looking back down to the kid, Nico regarded him with a sense of curiosity this time, no traces of his earlier demeanor. This did the job of calming the kid down some, and in the distance he could see the father lose his tensity as well. Must have been worried for his son there.

Nico stood up and kneeled before the child, his lips curving upwards ever so slightly in the form of a ghost of a smile.

"I'm alright, kid. Don't worry about me." he remarked, before gesturing over to the father over there. "Your father is a great man, who helped protect this town full of innocent people. In their eyes, he should be regarded as a hero. Take solace in that fact, kid, the fact that your the son of a hero today."

His words, spoken with a softness that many wouldn't expect him to be capable of, made a big grin sweep itself across the child's face like a brush going over some paper, though it was obvious that the boy didn't understand all that Nico said.

"Hehehe! Yeah, I will mister! You seem way nicer than what people say about you!" he exclaimed, before turning on his little boots and running off towards some other children, likely to spread word of how 'nice' he was to him.

The Spec Ops Agent figured people wouldn't see him in a positive light when word of his actions during the battle would get out. When people learned of how brutal he was. But the thought that a child, in all of his innocence, thought he was a good person… he felt it more than he had expected.

While he thought of that, Nico almost didn't hear the trudging sounds of boots coming towards him. Looking up, he saw it was the same man that he had been talking to the child about, the child's father.

"DEATHSTROKE." the man addressed Nico by his codename with a nod.

"Private." Nico curtly responded, nodding to him. Nico knew that the man before him was a private considering the fact that he had a series of patches on his uniform during the battle.

A short silence passed between the two, where next to nothing was said. A silent breeze blew past them, as if extending the silence further than necessary. After a few, tense moments, the Spec Ops Agent glanced to the play area were the child had run off to. "Your son was just telling me, your wife has been worried for you."

Blinking momentarily, the man seemed surprised that he started the conversation off. "Yeah, she tends to do that. Nearly got into an accident a while back that could have killed me. Glad we had competent medics though, they saved me. She's been worrying ever since though." He replied.

The two sat back down on the bench, the wife staying put as she pulled out a Phone and began texting someone. That was what Nico assumed anyways as it looked like she was pressing something intently on her phone. Aside from that, the two watched the children playing, laughing merrily like nothing serious had ever happened in their lives.

"You have a good family going for you, Private." Nico stated suddenly, getting the man's attention while neither drew their gazes away from the children. "A loving wife, and a son who cares for you. Very few have that kind of luxury in this line of work."

"Sir, outside of work, call me by my name. Jim Jenkins."

"Alright. Still say the same about your family, though."

At this, the man nodded with a sigh. "Aye." he said, raising a hand, which Nico noticed contained a cigarette, and put it in his mouth. "Ol' Sally there's someone I care more for than anything, so is littl' Johnny. Almost died in childbirth, you know." he told him, surprising the teen slightly. It was evident by the slight widening of his eyes, before the man continued. "She wasn't expected to survive, but medical science works wonders though."

"I see…" Nico remarked, pausing before he decided on another question to ask. He felt comfortable talking like this, just because they were both from a military occupation. Much easier to talk to than civilians. "How's the rest of the Squad doing?"

Jim shrugged his shoulders. "Meh, could be worse, I guess. Most are helping with the repairs. I did my bit so I'm taking some time to spend with the missus. Some have their… grievances with your methods, true. But in the end, we're alive, right? So we ought to be grateful you took most the heat off us." He then aimed a sideways glance towards him, a brow raised. "You ever hear of Leeroy Jenkins? You should meet 'im sometime, you both are crazy fuckers who jump right into the heat of things."

Nico rolled his eyes at this. He couldn't help it the comparison between him and a meme from an MMO was just that ridiculous. "Ha ha…"

"Anyways," deciding to get to the heart of the matter, Jim looked fully towards the NCO of their Squad. His face was like one of stone. "was watching you just now. You're a confusing one, you say you're a monster, but that wasn't what a monster looked like to me. You're more human than you let on."

In response, Nico shrugged his shoulders, his eyes dancing across the area. "Well, that just depends on what your definition of human is, isn't it?" he remarked, a slight bitterness entering his tone. "We all have reasons for what we do, or well, most of us anyways."

"Is that so? What reasons do you have for… what you do?"

"I have one. She's a friend in Planeptune." Nico replied. His eyes, to the man's shock, turned wistful as he looked up towards the skies. "She's a Nurse-In-Training, and one of the sweetest people you could ever meet. To me, she's someone who proves that there's still something worth fighting for."

Now THIS drew Jim's interest. Before, while he never said anything bad about his NCO, he had thought of him as an emotionless robot from Avenir or some shit like that. The way he killed without hesitation. But right now, he could see emotion, human emotion, slowly bleeding into his words. His eyes shined with a light that he hadn't seen from him when they first met after General Lid got wrong with Theta for slandering him in front of his unit.

"Huh… I see…" he paused momentarily, glancing towards his wife before looking back to Nico again. "Have you asked her out?"

"#SNORT#" Nico snorted, his once peaceful eyes turning dark, sending chills up the man's spione and making Jim tense as anger flared within them. But, there was also some bitterness and depression mixed in. "Like I could. I'm already bound for hell anyways, you've seen what I do on a daily basis. I'll be bound to be hunted by people wanting revenge against me. I can't let her be dragged into that, it wouldn't be fair to her."

"Fair point, I guess…"

Their conversation couldn't go any further, because a third person joined the fray. It was the woman Jim had been sitting with, his wife Sally if Nico had heard correctly. She walked up to them while glancing between the two. "You boys having a fun talk there?" she questioned.

"We're fine, Sally. Just talking about some stuff." Jim replied offhandedly, waving a hand in a dismissive manner. "This kid's my NCO, recommended by Theta himself. Kid's young, but he's got skill for pointy things and some stunts. Also the one who got put in charge of my Squad." the man said, introducing him to his wife.

Sally's eye changed from her husband towards Nico. She sized him up, glancing up and down his frame. Nico honestly felt… kind of uncomfortable with that stare, but didn't show it. "I see... " she remarked, showing nothing but a blank face.

At first, Nico thought she was going to try and do something horrible to him, so he mentally prepared himself for evasive manoeuvres… until the woman suddenly blurred forwards with speeds comparable to high rank Abnormals and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into an embrace. "Then you're the one I'll thank for bringing my husband back to my family. Thank you sir, so very much." she whispered into his ear.

Nico, eyes wide, flushed greatly, the first sign of embarrassment he'd shown ever since his arrival on this Quest. His face was redder than a tomato while he tried to say words but only got incoherent babble as a result. Chuckles made their way into his ears, and when he looked to the source, Nico found Jim stifling his laughter at his situation. "Oh yeah, shoulda mentioned. She's a hugger."

' _Yeah no shit!'_

The teenage Spec Ops barely stopped himself from shouting that out at her husband, but Sally's close contact also helped in keeping his mouth shut. For someone who was good at his job, Nico was NOT very good with members of the opposite sex. Even if he had a small fanclub thanks to his adoptive mother, he STILL got flustered when a girl he didn't know touched him like this.

This continued for about 10 minutes.

* * *

After those 10 minutes passed, the woman let go of him, gave him one small thank you before she and her husband left the park, taking their son with them. When they were gone, Nico spent the next few moments breathing heavily, a hand on his chest while he tried to calm himself down from that onslaught. Seriously, that had been so freaking unexpected! Like being caught with your pants down, unexpected!

Theta would never let him hear the end of that if he found out…

He PRAYED that Theta wouldn't find out.

Once he finally felt… reasonably calm again, the teen decided to look into the situation with the Com device. It held a lot of sway over their next move, so he wanted to know what the situation with it was. Raising his Bracer, Nico pressed a few keys and activated a com channel between him and Ages', before speaking. "Ages, how's the Com device looking up?"

" _DEATHSTROKE. The Com device's looking good so far, but it'll be a while before we can hack it. Still gotta wait, sadly for you."_

"I see. Don't worry, take your time. Pretty sure Theta would like us to all have some peace for the time being. Wind down a bit."

" _That, I can agree with."_

Seeing that there was little else he could ask in regards to the Device, Nico cut the connection, before standing up from his seat and making to head out the Park. He wanted to resume his journey to the southern areas, to see the carnage brought about with his own eyes.

* * *

Finally, Nico had done it.

He had arrived at the southern streets of Easton Point.

The teen remembered coming here from the south on his Quest to find his client way back when, which happened to be Theta himself. Back then though, the streets had been relatively clean, free of any influences from modern warfare.

Now though…

Honestly, Nico hadn't been thinking of what to expect. But, he certainly didn't expect to see this when coming here. He could hardly recognise these streets, they were THAT messed up. The roads had various cracks, craters and dried blood all over them. The Buildings looked partially destroyed while there were vehicle reckages scattered throughout. He could smell heavy traces of fumes in the air, likely from fuel, fires and the weapons used in this warfare.

He could see soldiers working together to clear the wreckage, mine detection experts working overtime to see if the enemy had planted any explosives as a nasty surprise after the battle. In some areas, civilians were allowed to briefly be in their homes before being pushed back to the other parts of Easton Point while work was being done.

This… this was different compared to what he usually faced with. With Abnormals, the aftermath wasn't as bad. Usually the damage would be done by large Skill attacks or attacks from the Abnormals themselves. Nico himself preferred to immobilise them with his capture Skill: CHAINS OF HEPHAESTUS, then finish them off with a decapitation. It was the quickest way for him, but it usually got off to a rocky start since he had to place a Marker on the target for the Skill to work. THAT was the hard part, in his honest opinion.

But this… this felt much more… HUMAN, than anything.

Though, again, this also reminded him of when he fought in Racoon City, as well as stopped the more intelligent of Abnormals from raiding isolated farms and Villages. The carnage here was eerily reminiscent of those times, but back then they were fighting against non-human opponents. THIS was caused between two human factions, factions that suffered losses.

As he wandered the streets, taking in the sights, something gradually became apparent to him. It was slow, at first, but over time he soon noticed this oddity. An oddity that honestly made suspicion and dread crawl up his spine.

Dead bodies… there were no dead bodies to be seen.

Where were they?

Where the fuck were all the dead bodies?

Well, there were SOME corpses still around, but not NEARLY as many as Nico would have expected from a situation like this. Also, when he found some patches of blood there were also trails leading away from the death scenes. Indicating that the bodies were moved… But by what? That was the question.

An idea formed in his mind, but he SO wished it weren't the case. If so, then this was not over. Not by a long shot.

Almost as if fate was mocking him, Nico jumped when he heard a ringing sound come from his Bracers. That sound usually came on when the Motion Trackers built into them detected something nearby. Swiftly, Nico raised his right arm and activated the Motion Tracker, noticing faint red dots moving beside him. Nico checked the Holomap of the town, and found that there were sewers built underneath the city.

' _Please don't tell me…'_

A pool of dread filled his stomach as Nico looked around, finding a Manhole cover nearby. ' _Plot convenience…'_ he couldn't help but think to himself as he jogged towards it. Datastreams swirled around him as Nico deployed his Armour. Kneeling before the Manhole cover, Nico grasped it and, with a tug of strength, removed it. Placing it to the side, the teen jumped down into the sewers, determination shining in his lone, uncovered eye.

* * *

THUD!

The male landed within the sewers, a faint splashing noise indicating that he'd landed within the middle of the water stream. The teen thanked himself for deploying his Armour before coming down here, as the stench of this place would have been unbearable. It WAS a Sewer after all, where waste was disposed of.

Turning around, Nico looked for any sign of movement. First with his eyes, and when he saw nothing that could indicate movement, he checked his Bracer's Motion Tracker.

Nothing.

They were silent.

'Great. I hope it's just me imagining things…' The male thought to himself, rolling his lone uncovered eye. Nico REALLY hoped that was the case, that this was all just something made up by his imagination, combined with the stress this particular mission was causing him. It would make his life so much easier in the long run…

SQUEAK, SQUEAK!

His ears twitched within his Helmet when he heard the sounds of squeaking rats. Normally people would have assumed that was normal for the sewers and moved on. However, Nico was NOT someone to be considered 'normal' as his ears registered the frequency of the squeaks. The male's eye narrowed when he realised something, those squeaks were ones of distress. Animals usually only make distressed noises when they were being hunted by something…

What that was, he could only HOPE was just a bigger rat…

* * *

Making his way to the source, which was around the far north corner, Nico found himself staring at a dead Rat's carcass on the left sidewalk. The carcass lay on its side, its eyes clear and lifeless with a hole in the side of its gut. Part of its Tail also looked particularly shredded to pieces like something had tried to grab it there but failed.

His worry gradually rose, and Nico stepped out of the water, his armoured boots clanking against the ground to scare off any critters wanting to sink their teeth into the meaty carcass. He stepped forth till he was beside the corpse, kneeling before it as he examined the wound. His lone eye narrowed while he formed a mental analysis. 'This wound… it doesn't look like a rat caused this… not at all.' he thought grimly.

It looked like the Rat had been partially eaten by something. The rat's wound had marks around the edges, bite marks to be more exact. However, if one wanted to be absolutely nerdy, they would say that these bite marks…

Resembled the teeth of a human.

Before he could do anything else, a sharp hissing sound echoed from the corpse… which then sprung to life and tried to jump him. Its eyes, formerly lifeless, now had a hollow red glow to them and the Rat's fags looked sharper than blades right now. Out of reflex and instinct, Nico reacted. He deployed a Plasma Claw to block the Rat, sending it backwards. The resurrected Rat landed on all fours, growling ferally as several bubbles appeared on its back. In the next second, 3 long Tendrils erupted in a glory splendor from its form, the Rat howling at him.

' _Oh shit!'_

One of the Tendrils reared itself back, before firing a barbed projectile dart at him. Nico swiftly caught it before it could stab him in the eye, and promptly shredded the Rat to ribbons with his Plasma Claw. Now that the Rat was dead, Nico examined the Dart carefully.

It wasn't very big, only about 4 inches long. It had a sharp tip though, and was serrated on the side. Now, this thing didn't look very threatening in his hand, but it could be very dangerous, borderline lethal, if it found a spot in the neck. It could cause a blood artery to burst during extraction, and the person would bleed out unless they could stop it.

' _Looks like I was right after all… not something I'm happy about, if I'm honest.'_ he thought, frowning as he looked ahead into the sewers. His Motion Detectors didn't show signs of the cause of this being nearby, by but if he knew these creatures like he KNEW he did, then things would be changing DRASTICALLY. ' _I have to warn Theta. The Sewers are to be considered a hot spot. The battle isn't over, we have a third player on the chessboard.'_

* * *

Back in the CMA Command centre, something else took place whilst Nico did his own thing.

"So what I'm saying is..." Theta began, standing over Lid, who was seated at a monitor. In the command center of the CMA, screens flickered and a dozen computer fans hummed. Right now, the man had tracked down the General after his talk with their resident emo kid, and had taken her here to give her a talk about the recent battle. They had been talking for more than 2 hours straight, going over what had happened in the battle from every angle possible, highlighting the mistakes that were made and what could have easily resulted in their loss should lady luck not have sided with them.

Cause honestly, luck was likely the best reason why they survived this.

"We could have done things differently. We should have."

He pointed at the screen, while Lid frowned. On that screen, a report that had summarized the previous battle had been displayed. It showed the statistics of every loss, every casualty on both sides. Though for the Coalition it was more of an estimate since they lacked intel on their actual numbers. They WERE caught by surprise by these guys after all.

"It looked different on the ground." she grumbled, arching back in a stretch. Mentally, she suppressed a moan as she felt the stress in her limbs get wrung out. She had her arms crossed with one leg crossed over the other. She refused to look at Theta in the eye, like a disobedient child trying to look cool in front of her annoyed parents.

"Yeah, but that's no excuse to check in to get the whole picture."

Lid said nothing, rolling her eyes as discreetly as she could.

"There's always another way. Always." Theta affirmed with a nod, stepping back from the computer. "I need a drink, be back in a minute."

With a huff and a puff, Theta turned on his boots and walked out of the room, leaving the still frowning Lid to her own devices and meandered upstairs, to the kitchen. Although he never was a big drinker, he'd definitely classify this as an exception. The stress was going to get to him if he didn't find some way to relax, something a few people he knew didn't know a thing about, apparently.

Once he found the kitchen, the man made his way to the fridge, his target destination. Reaching for it's handle, the fridge popped open, introducing a wave of cool air to the room. Theta almost shuddered, but since he had grown up in Lowee this felt like a hot breeze. With the eyes of an eagle, Theta scanned for his prize- a bottle of imported Lastation wine. Maneuvering his hands past the eggs and milk, the hidden bottle was a relief for sore eyes.

Grasping it firmly, he halfheartedly shut the fridge, pulling down a glass from a nearby cabinet to pour himself a drink. The sight of the liquid pouring out of the bottle like crimson blood made Theta mentally wince, as it reminded him of the blood that had been shed today. Not something he liked to think about, not when he was this tired out.

"Fuck…"

He exhaled under his breath. The reddish, blood-like liquid swished in the glass, pooling up as more and more was poured. Still, even with it's appearance, the thoughts of him being able to relax once he sat down calmed the man's mind.

Satisfied, he resealed the wine, returning it to it's hiding spot in the fridge with impunity. He didn't want to think of what would likely happen if anyone found this wine and tried to take it. It was his, dammit, he only had something like this to take the edge off!

With the wine glass in one hand, Theta sat down at the table and let his head droop. His eyes stared at his reflection in the red, sickly liquid, the scent of permeating alcohol something he considered a treat. He looked exactly like his expression indicated: forlorn, weary and, most of all… lonely.

Closing his eyes, he raised his chin and let the stinging, pungent flavor wash over his tongue. The chill was more than welcome, and with it came a pain in his gut.

An escape from reality, almost. Every momentous occasion in his life was met with the wine. If it was memorable, it was something to drink to. They didn't come often, but the taste had become associated with both the gut-wrenching, tightening pains of regret and the elated, uplifting feelings of success.

He let the wine sit there, in his mouth, letting the cognitive dissonance settle in. Both in his mind, and in the background around him, letting the homely feeling the atmosphere had seep into him. Take away all his worries for just this one moment.

At peace, he thought, for the first time in… how long was it? Months? Years?

He didn't know, nor did he want to spare the brainpower. Today, and yesterday, were footnotes in history. But just that. Nothing he would have to pay any attention to.

Theta blinked, and the weight of reality dawned on him. Like the early morning sun, things that had to be done lit him up from his toes to his head, and that moment of brief respite was over.

Over, he thought, and he placed the empty glass of wine in the sink. The faint red stains clutched to the rim and, as he watched the liquid drip over the side, he saw a little bit of himself die.

Now. Theta yawned, setting both hands on the edge of the counter. Now, Theta looked outside though the stainless glass windows and knew he was going to have to write a report to those Lastation officials around the corner. Lowee would want to know, too. A sad, frustration frown crossed onto his face at the thought, anger flashing through his eyes.

But he hated that. Both the fact that they were so clueless, so daft in the mind about their reactionary mindset, and so oblivious to the scenes that Theta's neighbors were met with today.

He looked down, at the glass, letting his head hang low.

Where to begin? He sighed, rolling his head around, hoping someone would answer the questions that deep down, he never wanted to hear.

There was a buzzing in his pocket. His phone was ringing.

Who the hell would be calling him now?

Dread bit his stomach. The Coalition… were they attacking again? It was too soon. It had to be too soon.

Inching his fingers to clasp his cell, Theta swung the device to his ear.

"Yeah?"

He waited.

" _This is DEATHSTROKE, reporting from beneath the sewers."_

Nico's voice rung out through the device as the man looked down at it in mild surprise. He didn't expect to get a call from this kid so soon, he had thought he had left to explore the town.

"Hey little buddy, what's going down in the sewers? Dropped something?" Theta teased, leaning against the counter.

" _Bad shit, unfortunately. As in Spec Ops, Abnormal level bad. I don't know how long it'll be before shit hits the fan, so I'll be quick. I think we're not out of the woods yet, as we MAY have a bit of an infestation here… an ABNORMAL infestation. That's the bad news, with some worse news."_

"Wonderful! I love monsters." he moaned sarcastically, gazing at the ceiling. Could this day get any better? After regaining his composure, Theta decided to bite the bullet and ask the obvious question, even though he felt like he didn't want to know the answer. "What's the worse news?"

" _One word: Necromorphs."_

"Cool name. Never heard of them." he snapped.

" _Oh, then prepare for the nightmares, cause it basically means 'dead form'. Necromorphs are mutated and reanimated corpses, reshaped into new forms by a recombinant extraterrestrial infection. The resulting creatures are extremely aggressive and will attack any uninfected organism on sight. I'd say more but there's not a lot of time if what I fear is true,and my instincts tells me I am. I checked around the town, and you know what I saw? ZERO bodies… you can guess where they could have gone, right?_

"Wild guess: The Sewers."

" _Yup. I got proof, found a rat's corpse and when I checked, it reanimated and tried to cut my neck open. I'm combing through the sewers now, but these tunnels will take a while, and it'll likely not be easy to find where their nest is. I'd like for the southern section of Easton Point to be quarantined, nobody gets in here and any civilians near or still in have to be evacuated immediately. From the reports, I can tell there were lots of casualties, so the Necromorphs won't be few in number, therefore it'll be like round two if we go by gamer logic."_

"I see…" it took a moment for Theta to take that all in. That was a lot of information to process, but once he did the an had to furrow his brows. Concern and anxiety warred within his chest at what he had heard, as well as the familiar pressure a Leader would feel in combat. A pressure that only a Leader would understand. "Yeah, as much as I want to evacuate everyone, it won't be easy, and I don't see myself leaving the CMA anytime soon. You see, we'll need to get federal help with this. Lid is already here, so we can see if she can get Lastation's help. I only have so much leeway and influence with the government, buddy, so if you got any big ideas, hit me up."

" _Alright, I figured that'd be the case. Normally I'd take them all on myself, but with things as they are that's not a good idea. Usually they populate deserted areas, but this case is different. In any case, send Lid down here, I'll help her take them out myself. Pulling help from the government will take too long, as these things reanimate fast as hell. Not to mention that you'll have to go through too much business shit and this situation requires action. We'll have to deal with this ourselves, unfortunately. Therefore, keep the quarantine active, cause if they get out of this section the entire Easton Point goes bye-bye. See if you can find something like flamethrowers or something, or perhaps silencer-equipped weapons. If you want to send soldiers in here, only send in small groups with radars and silent gear. Larger groups will only make better targets for the enemy. I'll send you the information we at the Spec Ops Guild have on these Necromorphs: types, weaknesses, all that shit."_

A beep came soon after, an indication that Theta had got the information.

"That's… that's a lot to take in, but yeah. We don't have that kind of gear on hand, but as it is, we should focus on getting out of here."

" _You do that, then, but send Lid down here. For all her attitude, she does have adequate stealth and infiltration skills, it'll help in taking these guys out. I'll share some of my equipment with her as well. She may be a general, but she'll likely be still irked with her recent loss, this will give her a chance to vent."_

Theta squinted, skeptical of everything Nico just said. But hey, he's the expert. Right?

"Yeah… just make sure you can get it done. I'll let her know, so give it ten minutes or less."

" _Affirmative. I'll keep an eye out for any Necro-"_

Just then, on Nico's side of the call Theta heard sounds that sent chills down his spine. There were mixed sounds of shrieking and gurgling, like something was trying to speak but lacked all the functions to do so. Animalistic snarls and grunts that did NOT belong on anything human whatsoever. It sounded like there were a small bunch of them too, something that Nico seemed to realize as well judging by the faint chortle he made.

" _Heh, looks like they were more prepared than I expected. I'll have to end the call here, got some friends coming over."_

"Good luck out there." With that said, Theta hung up, letting the phone sit in his hand. Once again, the silence of his home dominated the atmosphere, but this time Theta could only feel a mix of dread and uncertainty. There were indeed a large amount of casualties, and if what Nico said was true, then all of them will have been taken into the Sewers to be made into these 'Necromorph' things. That… added a whole number of them, the man thought as he suddenly felt paler than he had felt in a long time.

Not to mention, the other problem that presented itself in the from of a certain General. Lid would be fine with going down… maybe. He still had his doubts about her willingness for this upcoming assignment, but even with all that stuff, Nico did have one thing right for certain: This was indeed a problem only they could solve. Just from the bigger picture alone Theta realized that they needed to act now, and that contacting the government would not be advisable in the long run. Even so, Lid will likely hum and har about being anywhere near the redhead kid. She still wasn't a fan of Nico, but that would have to change. They were going to be fighting alongside one another, so they would need to learn to get along. Since this was quite the problem, Lid might be better off taking some of the CMA's finest equipment with her.

With that thought in mind, Theta wondered if there was any more C4 left in the basement.


End file.
